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What We Offer

The Longhorn SHARE Project offers multiple peer-led spaces and opportunities to experience genuine connection and nonjudgmental support around shared experiences. Read about these below!

Other events, activities, and workshops facilitated by trained SHARE Support Specialists and program staff are also posted on @healthyhorns on social media and on listservs and screens across campus. Email longhornshareproject@utexas.edu and ask to be added to our listserv to receive monthly updates, special event information, and other ways to connect with and support others!

Unless otherwise indicated, opportunities are open to all UT Austin undergraduate and graduate students.

How to Connect with SHARE

SHARE Communities – Find Your People

SHARE Communities are peer-led groups where students with similar challenges, identities, or wellness goals can bring their full selves, experience validation and nonjudgment, build supportive friendships, empower each other, enjoy restorative activities, or simply exist in the company of people who can relate to their experiences. Community topics are all chosen by trained SHARE co-facilitators based on their own interests, identities, or mental health concerns.

SHARE Community topics, co-facilitators, and meeting times can change each semester depending on our SHARE Support Specialists’ availability, though some topics have been offered for multiple semesters due to continued student interest.

Request a SHARE Circle for Your Group or Class

We offer SHARE Circles by request for existing groups of UT students (classes, FIGs, organizations, etc.) to deepen community, share wisdom, and open up about common challenges. Our goal is to help everyone feel less alone in their experiences and more comfortable being their full selves with each other both during and after the experience.

SHARE Circles employ a simple turn-taking structure influenced by indigenous story circle practices that ensures all voices can be heard. Our friendly SHARE Support Specialists can facilitate with any size group in person or virtually, and will tailor the Circle to fit a theme or topic of your choice.

Individual SHARE Chats

Meet with a SHARE Support Specialist in a variety of convenient locations around campus to get free private support!

While SHARE Support Specialists are not counselors or therapists, they can still help you by using their peer support skills and sharing relevant tools and resources. You can expect SHARE peers to:

  • Listen nonjudgmentally to help you process your thoughts and feelings.
  • Help you combat self-stigma around mental health and help-seeking.
  • Provide validation as someone who has experienced similar situations.
  • Share information about campus resources.
  • Assist with decision-making by asking open-ended questions and sharing unbiased observations.
  • Make suggestions or share strategies they have found useful in similar situations, if asked.
IMPORTANT

Please be advised that SHARE Chats are not counseling sessions, nor are SHARE Support Specialists qualified to diagnose or treat mental health conditions. SHARE Support Specialists can help students explore other resources and options, but students specifically seeking clinical counseling services should visit the Counseling and Mental Health Center website for more information.

If you need immediate mental health support, please contact the CMHC Crisis Line at 512-471-2255.

How to Meet with a SHARE Support Specialist

Drop-In Periods

During high-stress periods of the semester - like midterms and before finals - SHARE Support Specialists will offer SHARE Chats on a drop-in basis. Dates and locations will be updated on this page, announced via our email newsletter and other campus listservs and shared on @healthyhorns social media accounts.

Request Forms

For the time being, individual SHARE Chats with a SHARE Support Specialist can be requested via the online form below

Who Will I Chat With?

You have the option of requesting a specific SHARE Support Specialist on the request form if you wish. Please be aware that our Specialists are also students so their individual availability may vary, but we will do our best to accommodate requests. Learn more about each of them and their interest areas by reading their bios on our Who We Are page.

Other Services

Standby Peer Support

SHARE Support Specialists can be requested to attend campus events focused on challenging or sensitive topics. While not therapists, SHARE peers can be available before, during, or after the events to connect students to mental health resources if needed.

Workshop, Training, and Presentation Requests

Part of our mission is to empower existing communities across campus by sharing some of the skills we teach SHARE Support Specialists! We offer a 50-minute workshop on Active Listening and Supportive Communication for students, and faculty, staff or students may request a full Mental Health First Aid training – an 8-hour course resulting in a 3-year certification - for groups of 10-25 people.

Find out more and see the other workshop options on the Longhorn Wellness Center’s workshop request page.