Dr. Maria Trumpler talked about the importance of tuning in to your body’s needs.
“Wellness in a time of uncertainty,” Dr. Olivia Moorehead-Slaughter said, “is learning how to quiet your mind in a time when it is not so quiet.” This statement opened the latest forum hosted by Choate’s Current Events Resource Group (CERG), Wellness in a Time of Uncertainty. The forum mainly focused on how to generate wellness in one’s life. Dr. Moorehead-Slaughter, one of the two speakers, is a licensed psychologist who specializes in Child Psychology. The other speaker, Dr. Maria Trumpler is the Director of Yale’s new Office of LGBTQ Resources.
During the forum, both speakers stressed the importance of tuning in to one’s body, as it benefits students both academically and athletically. Dr. Moorehead-Slaughter gave several examples of indicators of high stress levels, including changing sleep patterns, drastic changes in appetite, feeling emotionally fragile, isolation, high anxiety, or simply feeling as though your mental stamina has drained. In order to bring down high stress levels, she recommended finding a calming activity such as yoga, meditation, or aerobic exercises and emphasized the importance of sleep. Dr. Trumpler explained, “Ultimately, everything you do for your own wellness has to be personal. Finding your happy place is a lifelong challenge, and knowing which practices work for you is key. Anticipate change, and develop good habits before you head out into the real world.”
Director of Equity and Inclusion Dr. Keith Hinderlie added, “The community as a whole can take away the idea of wellness in general. Institutions like Choate can promote wellness in many ways. However, the talk really spoke to individuals and encouraged them to take better care of themselves. I think being connected and using general wellness strategies is an important lesson that the two delivered. ”
The idea for a forum on wellness took shape around the time of the presidential inauguration. Dr. Hinderlie said, “The first step we took as a group was generating different topics to have for the series of forums. This happened after the inauguration, and we wanted topics that would address the problems present on people’s minds. We identified the need for a wellness forum.”
Generating wellness can be hard to do in a fast-paced environment such as Choate. However, Kathryn Phillips ’20 said, “The speakers did a great job of acknowledging that Choate is a busy place that you will be stressed in but then moved forward by giving tips and advice on how to improve your wellness.”
Dr. Hinderlie said on choosing the speakers for this event, “The Rev. Ally Brundige decided to bring in an expert on wellness within the LGBTQ community, Dr. Maria Trumpler. I have known Dr. Olivia Moorehead-Slaughter for many years, and I thought she would be a good person to have, as she works as a psychologist at an independent school and is a parent of kids who attended independent schools.” He continued, “They have had experience with communities impacted with change, and we thought that the messages they deliver would be great to have at Choate.”
Dr. Olivia Moorehead-Slaughter spoke at Choate about the importance of personal wellness.
Indeed, both speakers are highly respected and well-known. Dr. Moorehead-Slaughter is a psychologist specializing in child psychology at the Park School, an independent school in Brookline, Massachusetts. In 2014, she received the APA Society for the Psychology of Women’s Bonnie Strickland and Jessica Henderson Daniel Award for Distinguished Mentoring. Dr. Moorehead-Slaughter was the former Chairperson of the American Psychological Association Ethics Committee and now focuses on supporting communities of color in independent schools.
Dr. Maria Trumpler received her Ph.D. from Yale in History of Medicine and Life Science, having explored the fields of gender and science, feminist critiques of science, scientific studies of sexuality, and food studies. She has taught at Middlebury College, Yale University, and Harvard University, and currently functions as the Director of Yale’s Office of LGBTQ Resources.
Ms. Mb Duckett-Ireland, who attended the forum, said, “I think there were a lot of really good messages about personal wellness. I think often times we get so caught up in the amount of stuff that we have to do and the number of commitments that we have that we don’t focus on self-care in the way that we should.” She continued, “Learning about how to take care of yourself helps in the long-run, especially when times seem bleak.”
Dr. Moorehead-Slaughter reminded the room to find a circle of people and to remember that they are not fighting alone. To this Dr. Hinderlie replied, “The Health Center is active in trying to create a wellness culture in the school. There are other resources for educating students such as Sophomore Seminar and the Peer Educators. Choate as a whole can learn and generate wellness activities but everyone has their own way of bringing wellness into their life. The message of the talk was that even if it is small, any wellness activity that works for you will go a long way. ”
Phillips concluded, “One of the biggest things that stuck with me was the metaphor that life is not a sprint but a marathon. Both speakers talked about how important it is to listen and connect to your body over time. As a community, I think we can all take a moment every once in a while to listen to ourselves to better our wellness.”
