BeWell gets interactive with Ask Dr. Jen, visits from Gus

BeWell, a behavioral wellness service available to Health Sciences students, has recently launched two new interactive initiatives — Ask Dr. Jen and Visits from Gus.

In two new tabs on the BeWell site, visitors can anonymously submit behavioral wellness questions to Dr. Jen Randall Reyes or request a visit from Gus, a certified therapy dog.

Dr. Jen will review questions submitted to "Ask Dr. Jen" and respond to common themes in her upcoming blog, Tough Truth Tuesdays.

"The idea is to give HSC students a platform to ask their mental health questions anonymously, since we all have questions we would like to ask and might be too nervous to make that initial appointment," said Dr. Jen. "Then, I'll take common themes that come out of those questions we receive and use them to craft a blog series called Tough Truth Tuesdays."

As for Gus, his team will review requests for visits at a number of locations, including student orientation programs, classrooms, students in need of stress management, and more.

"The request a Gus visit is a great option for Gus to visit multiple students at once when they have exams, or just having a stressful week in classes," said Maleah King, BeWell program coordinator. "It also gives Gus and me a chance to visit students in their environment versus a clinical type setting.”

BeWell behavioral wellness services are available to all Health Sciences students. BeWell staff are located on the Health Sciences campus, HSC South Suite 1256, as a satellite office of the Carruth Center for Psychological and Psychiatric Services. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

To schedule an appointment, call 304-293-2660 or 304-293-3111, or email bewell@hsc.wvu.edu.