Many aspects of women's mental, emotional and physical wellness are shaped by women's unique experiences.
There are many resources dedicated to addresssing th needs of women's health. Please see links below to on- and off-campus organizations.
Students at UC Berkeley are required to have health insurance. Students may use the University's health insurance program (SHIP) or their own private insurance if it qualifies. More information about SHIP.
On-Campus: The Tang Center | General Women's Health | Mental Health | Eating Disorders & Nutrition | Intimate Partner Violence | Queer Women | HIV/AIDS
On-Campus: The Tang Center
University Health Services (UHS) at the Tang Center provides comprehensive medical care, counseling, health promotion, and public health services to Berkeley students, and several other local institutions. UHS also provides occupational health services to faculty and staff. The Tang Center provides many resources and links to information about services both on and off campus. You can search various topics on their website to get more information. Click here for an index of Tang Center Services including:
- Counseling Programs: Help for Personal Concerns
- Student Parents: obtain information about Students with Families and Dependents
- Gynecological Services
General Women's Health
The National Women's Health Information Center: The Federal Government Source for Women's Health Information
800-994-9662 or 888-220-5446 (TDD) -- Monday through Friday (9:00 am to 6:00 pm est)
The National Women's Health Information Center (NWHIC) is the most reliable and current information resource on women’s health today. We offer FREE women’s health information on more than 800 topics through our call center and web site.
Mental Health
Stress
Tips for managing stress from University Health Services:
- Stress and Anxiety: Medical, Counseling and Educational Services
- Managing Physical Reactions to Stress
- Healthy Office: Managing Stress (pdf)
- Emergency and Crisis
Berkeley Free Clinic Peer Counseling
This free, confidential service for individuals is provided by lay volunteers trained in active listening skills: this is the basic, "talk therapy" approach.
Drop-in peer counseling is available Monday through Friday starting at 6:30pm. Appointments may also be made outside of these hours by calling (510) 548-2744./a> .
Ongoing scheduled individual counseling may be set up through drop-ins.
We also offer group counseling every Monday night from 6:30 to 8:30. The group is called The Radical Mental Health Group. Topics are open and decided on by the needs of the group present.
The Fireweed Collective
From the Fireweed Collective's Website:
Fireweed Collective offers mental health education and mutual aid through a Healing Justice and Disability Justice lens. We support the emotional wellness of all people and center QTBIPOC folks in our internal leadership, programs, and resources.
Our work seeks to disrupt the harm of systems of abuse and oppression, often reproduced by the mental health system. Our model for understanding ‘severe mental illness’ is community and relationship-based and divests from the prison industrial complex and psych wards.
Healing Justice (HJ) is a framework rooted in racial justice, disability justice, and economic justice. Healing Justice provides us with tools we can use to interrupt the systems of oppression that impact our mental health. Fireweed Collective uses HJ as a guide to help redefine what medicine is, and increase who has access to it.
We are honored to be a part of a larger community of organizations guided by the principles of Healing Justice
Eating Disorders & Diet
Links will take you to information provided by University Health Services
- Nutrition Resources
- Healthy Lifestyle
- Health Promotion Services
- Eating Disorders: About Eating Disorders, Services at the Tang Center, Additional Online Resources and Related Topics
- Eating Disorders: Medical, Counseling and Educational Services
Helpful Handouts
- 10 Steps to Positive Body Image
- How to Help a Friend
- Evaluating Eating & Exercise Habits
- Compulsive Eating: Too much of a good thing?
The National Eating Disorders Association offers various informational pages.
Domestic Violence
Please see this website's section on Sexual & Dating Violence for further information.
Off Campus Shelters & Crisis Lines:
- Aasra (South Asian Women), Bay Area
- A Safe Place, Oakland
- Asian Women's Shelter, SF
- Community United Against Violence (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender), SF
- La Casa De Las Madres, SF
- Marin Abused Women's Services
- Narika (South Asian Women), Berkeley
- National Domestic Violence Hotline
- Shelter Against Violent Environments, Fremont
- STAND! Against Domestic Violence, Concord
- Tri-Valley Haven, Livermore, Pleasanton, San Ramon
Queer Women
LGBT Health and Research Resources at UCSF
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has various resources focused around LGBT health.
The National Coalition for LGBT Health
The Coalition is committed to improving the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals through federal advocacy that is focused on research, policy, education, and training.
The LGBT community includes individuals of every sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, and age; regardless of disability, income, education, and geography. Our members are dedicated to effecting change by uniting this rich diversity at the national level.
HIV/AIDS
POZ Health, Life, & HIV
This site provides helpful information and resources regarding the HIV virus. On their site you can find:
- The first steps to take if you’ve just tested HIV positive. What to do if you’re worried about getting HIV.
- News and opinion about HIV politics, health care and more.
- Every copy of their magazine since it first launched in 1994.
- All about HIV treatment.
- Community connections for chatting, dating, and finding services.
- Safe sex for people with HIV.
- Person-to-person support.
- If you want to take a look around the website, here’s a full site map.
- Can’t find what you’re looking for? Search for it.
WORLD
WORLD is a diverse community of women living with HIV/AIDS and their supporters working together to:
- Provide support and information to women with HIV/AIDS and their friends, family & loved ones.
- Educate and inspire women with HIV/AIDS to advocate for themselves, one another and their communities
- Promote public awareness of women's HIV/AIDS issues and a compassionate response for all people with HIV/AIDS.