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The latest news and service updates from USC Student Health
February 2022 Edition
Have questions? Suggestions? Topics you would like to see covered? Drop us a line at studenthealth@usc.edu.
Love.
Love.
Your Self
Your Body
Your Community
Your Planet
Your body is your ultimate home, your “go forward” vehicle, your energy engine, where you have the power to express your inner self and make things happen for you. Decorate it, share it or keep it all for yourself, celebrate your body and your whole self.
You can make decisions about what goes in it, how it gets replenished, how to take care of it, how it can receive and give pleasure, and who has access to it.
Student Health is here to support you with nutrition, body image, eating disorder treatment and care, illness/injury care, sleep, boundaries and consent education, gender-affirming hormone therapies and other ways to help you love the body you’re in.
National Eating Disorders Support and Recovery Weekend is Feb. 26 & 27
Free, therapist-led virtual support groups will be held each hour from 8AM to 12 AM EST in this weekend-long support and recovery program hosted by the National Alliance for Eating Disorders.
Love means...
Love means...
Respecting boundaries
Mutual support
Acceptance of who you are
Consideration
Kindness
Acting with accountability
Learn more about Healthy Relationships through the Relationship and Violence Prevention and Services office.
Love shouldn't feel like...
belitting, possessiveness, isolation, volatility, intensity, deflecting responsibility, sabotage, guilting, betrayal, manipulation.
Learn more from the One Love Foundation.
Know and Grow.
Know and Grow.
Your Well-being Matters
Your Well-being Matters
Your opinion can help shape campus outcomes that influence the health and safety of your fellow students.
The USC Well-Being Collective will begin sending out email invitations for ths SWIS sruvey starting on February 14, 2022.
Be sure to check your @usc.edu email inbox for your unique survey link. For more information, please visit: bit.ly/uscswis
Getting to Know Your Providers:
Getting to Know Your Providers:
Kristin Howard, LMFT
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Clinical Instructor of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Keck School of Medicine of USC
Kristin Howard, LMFT received her BS in Business Administration and her MA in Marriage & Family Therapy from Pepperdine University. Howard has experience working in community mental health, private practice, and university counseling settings.
Howard’s professional interests include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), mindfulness, multi-cultural issues, anxiety, depression, life transition issues, and issues pertaining to sexuality.
In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, yoga, spending quality time with family/friends, hiking, live music, and binge watching a good show.
Kristin's pronouns are she, her, hers.
Learn more about our BIPOC and cultural community-centered mental health care.
Healthy Sexuality
Healthy Sexuality
Human sexuality and sexual curiosity is normal, healthy, and can be a fulfilling expression between people or a way of solo self-care. Lots of consensual sex, no sex at all, and everything in between are perfectly normal for consenting adults, and may change at different times in our adult lives.
Taking care of your sexual health is important because you are important. Regular screenings of reproductive systems may be recommended (such as a pap smear if you have a cervix—starting at age 21) by your provider. A trained assistant and your medical provider will be attuned to your sense of safety and comfort during all sensitive exams.
Know your status: STI Testing
Know your status: STI Testing
Starting a new relationship? Thinking about getting intimate?
Test for sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
Recommendations
HIV: blood test recommended for all individuals
Genital sex: urine test for chlamydia & gonorrhea
Oral sex: throat swab for gonorrhea
Anal sex: anal swab for chlamydia & gonorrhea
Blood test for syphilis*: by population or practices
Self-pleasuring practices (masturbation): no testing required
Intimate toys: sanitize as a hygiene practice, especially if shared between partners.
*Testing for gonorrhea and syphilis is recommended if you are pregnant; a man / nonbinary person / transgender woman who has sex with men; have HIV infection; and/or have partner(s) who have tested positive for these infections. A one-time test is recommended if you are anatomically female.
Common Occurrence: Ages 15-24
While sexually transmitted infections (STIs) affect individuals of all ages, STIs are more common in young adults. CDC estimates that youth ages 15-24 account for almost half of the 26 million new sexually transmitted infections that occurr in the United States.
If you test positive, getting treatment early can be an important step. It's also important to tell any partners, even though this may not be easy. Check out advice from Go Ask Alice! on ways to make a difficult conversation go a little easier.
See testing options in MySHR. For your enhanced privacy and comfort, you can order the right tests for yourself and head to the lab without a clinical interview.
Test when you have a new partner.
Mental Health and Healing
Mental Health and Healing
"Let's Talk" sessions available every week
What is Let's Talk? It is a 30 min drop-in service that provides USC students an easy and confidential way to speak with a counselor. You can discuss concerns or get support on anything that is on your mind.
*Let's Talk is not a substitute for psychotherapy.
Appointments are available every week. Sign up on MySHR!
"Stomping Grounds" Healing Arts session with the LGBTQ+ Center
Monday, Feb. 14 at 3:30 PM
Join Edwin Bodney and Cori Bratby-Rudd for this program in CBCSA office in the Student Union, 1st floor.
Paid Research Opportunities
The Dept. of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences is seeking study participants related to mental health among young adults.
The Cognition and Affect Regulation (CAR) Study is recruiting adults aged 18-30 years with or without a history of depression. The study is online and involves 2-3 remote visits, a week of data collection in daily life, and a follow-up phone call.
The Proximal Affect Regulation and Cognition (PARC) Study is recruiting adults aged 18-30 years. The study is online and involves 2-3 remote sessions, a week of data collection in daily life, and a follow-up phone call.
International Students:
Immunizations Fair
International Students:
Immunizations Fair
"Springchella" is Feb 15 - 18 & 21-25 in King Hall
For international students who have not yet completed a required TB (tuberculosis) screening, please come to the Springchella Immunizations Fair to complete your requirement before the February 28 deadline.
Other non-respiratory immunizations for measles, mumps (MMR), varicella ("chicken pox"), meningococcal disease that are required may be completed at this time.
Students are asked to arrive on the day corresponding to the first letter of your last name, as follows:
Tuesday, Feb. 15: Last name begins with “A-H”
Wednesday, Feb. 16: Last name begins with “I-M”
Thursday, Feb. 17: Last name begins with “N-S”
Friday, Feb. 18: Last name begins with "T-Z"
Hours are from 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM; please note that TB testing closes at 2:30 PM to ensure timely delivery of samples to the lab for processing. Additional hours are available on Feb. 21-25 for students who have been unable to arrive on their assigned days.
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