Student Wellbeing Program in Psychology at Brighton University

This essay outlines a student wellbeing program tailored for first-year psychology undergraduates at Brighton University, addressing challenges such as economic issues, strained relationships, and the transition to university life. The program, grounded in psychological theories, proposes three initiatives: fostering universal love through education on interpersonal relationships and Sternberg's triangular theory of love; promoting self-motivation via motivational speakers and capacity-building activities, referencing Maslow's theory of human motivation and the concept of self-actualization; and encouraging life and self-satisfaction through teaching self-contentment and the meaning of life, drawing on Cummins's domains of life satisfaction and Frankl's analysis of the search for meaning. The essay emphasizes the research informing each initiative and acknowledges potential limitations. The aim is to enhance student wellbeing, academic success, and overall university experience.

Running head: STUDENT WELLBEING PROGRAM IN UNIVERSITIES 1
A Student Well Being Program Suitable For First Years
Student’s Name:
Instructor’s Name:
Class Name:
Date of Submission:

STUDENT WELLBEING PROGRAM IN UNIVERSITIES 2
A Student Wellbeing Program Suitable For First Years
After admission at the University, most students encounter enormous challenges, some of
which are hard to cope with. These challenges can either involve economic issues, strained
relationship back at home or with their lovers, some still under domestic violence and sexual
abuse or just the new feeling of being away from strict parents and having unexplained freedom
at hand. In a nutshell, challenges that encounter these students are numerous (Kalpidou, Costin,
& Morris, 2011). One thing is that if they don't find a way to cope with these challenges it is
more likely that they will start depending on drug and substance abuse to help them cope or
worse still, drop out of school. Some measures can be taken in advance to see that these new
students do not fall for any of these loopholes, or better still, help them overcome the challenges
they may meet in the course of their new stay at school. The Brighton University aims to help
these first-year psychology students realize their goals and dreams by enabling them to gain
career education and skills necessary for their courses while making them stronger to their day to
day challenges (Francis-Sharnowski, 2009). The program aims at enhancing the wellbeing of the
first year psychology students at the university. The program much depends on the psychological
theories and comes in three separate initiatives each aimed at enhancing the student wellbeing.
Universal love initiative needs to be enhanced in colleges. As a rule of the thumb, love is
the primary option in bringing together human beings of different races, ages, and thinking. It is
necessary for Brighton University to enroll in a plan to educate the new student on the
importance of loving one another (Wei, Liao, Ku, & Shaffer, 2011). Loving each other may not
necessarily be between specific age brackets. It should be the feeling that relays someone as a
brother or sister. Being concerned with their where about and what they might be going through.
It can be often attributed to being caring and trying to talk to the student who looks

STUDENT WELLBEING PROGRAM IN UNIVERSITIES 3
uneasy to know what the problem might be. Creating awareness to students about this love will
not only improve student to student relationships but also develop a bond between the students
but also reduce the risk of eruptions between students such as bullying and violence. By so
doing, students will be likely to find a more welcoming life at the University. Sternberg (2006),
presents the triangular theory of love in such a way that love is composed of intimacy, which
involves closeness or bonds between people, passion, which is the crucial point in attraction
between people and commitment which encompasses a decision for one to stay with another in
the long term and a determination to love someone in the short time.
On the same note, the theory related to the relationship within family and friends termed
by the module kindred can be associated with the love theory above. When teaching how to get
close and care about others, it merely means our relationship with them. The Brighton University
should, therefore, include the teachings of social relations between first-year students in the
psychology department how to relate well with the friends and family (Francis-Sharnowski,
2009). When a good relationship has been created between the family and friends it means that
on one side, the first year students will learn to have healthy relationships from home for proper
communication and intimacy, and on the other hand, a good relationship with fellow students at
the university. A good relationship between students at the university simply translates to a better
living experience among themselves at the school (Francis-Sharnowski, 2009). This enhances the
general welfare of these students while they are in school.
Self-Motivation is also an important initiative to enhance in universities. The university
should roll out an initiative for new students to be offered training and enough capacity building
activities to ensure they are always focused on their goals in life. Such programs can be
established by allowing motivational speakers and capacity builders to have talks with these new

STUDENT WELLBEING PROGRAM IN UNIVERSITIES 4
students to ensure they are always on their feet and this would promote and secure the general
wellbeing of these students by securing their future. Maslow (2013) depicts the human
motivation theory in terms of self-actualization. He explains that one will not rest even if they
have already worked enough to achieve ultimate happiness. According to him, artists must paint,
musicians have no option but to make music, and those who are poets always have to write. By
ensuring new students realize their powers, the university will have enabled them to work
restlessly going forward, and this is for their benefit. Self-realization and actualization can also
be attributed to the module self-transcendence (Neely, Schallert, Mohammed, Roberts, & Chen,
2009).
On the other side, the stress response of a body can be put in the same context as self-
actualization in that, when one realizes what they want and the powers they have, they will
develop strategies to cope with the challenges they may meet in a bid to attain their goals (Cha,
2003). Therefore the University after enabling these new students to realize what powers they
have and what they need to achieve, it is necessary that it helps them understand what challenges
may be awaiting them and the possible ways to cope up with them. It is in the critical part of a
body's stress response and emotional experience to deal with the challenges strategically
(Bowman, 2010).
Life and Self Satisfaction is another initiative that motivates students. The university
ought to roll out a program to teach these new students to find satisfaction in what they possess.
Feeling satisfied with what one has makes people respect each other regardless of what they
own. Self-contentment is essential to a stable society and helps us avoid crime, bullying, and
other societal unbecoming behaviors. Cummins (2005) elaborates about the domains of self-
satisfaction, which is part of the fields of life. In this theory of life domains, a report by

STUDENT WELLBEING PROGRAM IN UNIVERSITIES 5
Cummins shows that life satisfaction could be an aggregate of one's specific life domains and in
which a more significant percentage of approximately 68% could be acceptable (Schiffrin, Liss,
Miles-McLean, Geary, Erchull, & Tashner, 2014). In the report, those that took part in the
exercise lower life quality criterion like intimacy domain rather than chronic medical conditions.
Therefore it calls for the institution to teach new students on being self-contented, and this is in
the module of measurement.
Similarly, if Brighton University teaches the self-contentment, it usually goes hand in
hand with the theory of the meaning of life. The new students ought to understand why they are
living and why life is challenging. Frankl (2017) analyses how man searches for the meaning of
the challenges he undergoes. Being a prisoner, he admits that he and his fellow prisoners had
thoughts of suicide, but it never happened to him. He, therefore, had a deeper understanding of
the meaning of life and the reasons why he was facing them, thus, managed to forego the
challenges he faced.
Basically, from the above arguments, the three initiatives could boot the smooth running
of the University by enhancing the welfare of these first-year students. Therefore it can also be
recommended that this work be established and be practical in the institution.

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References
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