Honours+ Care Package

While being an honours student can be an incredibly fun and enjoyable time of your life, it’s not without its stresses. Being away from home, making new friends, dealing with the pressures of work and study are all common problems that you might face during your Honours+ experience. To make life a bit easier for you, Honours+ has set up a Care Package.

Honours+ Care Package

Honours students are naturally driven and high-performing students, always looking for a new challenge. However much we appreciate this attitude and ability, it might also sometimes be the cause of certain issues. Especially when deadlines start adding up, pressure is building and a lot of new information comes your way, students might feel overwhelmed at times.

Therefore, Honours+ decided to provide our Honours+ students with the H+ Student Care Package this year. Please note that this is optional, on a voluntary basis, and merely meant for those of you that feel they would benefit from a bit of extra support.

Check the information below to see which parts of this Care Package you would like to benefit from.

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Wellbeing Session with professional Coach
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Workshop Time Management
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Workshop Science of Wellbeing
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H+ Walking Buddies Group
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Workshop Stress Management

Free Wellbeing Session With Professional Coach

We have arranged for  Honours+ students to have the opportunity to book up to three individual coaching sessions of 45 minutes each. You are free to schedule these sessions at any time between December and the end of Honours+, pending your availability and of your coach of preference.

You can use these sessions to talk about any topic that matters to you , whether related to Honours+, your studies, or life in general. Everything you discuss is 100% confidential between you and your coach.

Our two experienced coaches, Klara Strecker and Michelle Wegter, are eager to meet you and committed to supporting you with whatever comes your way.

If you would like to have your first session, please let us know by filling in the registration form below. We will forward your request to the coach, who will then contact you directly to arrange the appointment.

I would like to book my first session

Wellbeing Coaches

klara

Klara Strecker

I'm a licensed coach and counsellor supporting expats and young professionals through challenging life transitions in careers, relationships, family, and identity. With a background in academia and sustainability, I eventually shifted paths to follow my passion and now run my own coaching and counselling practice. That also means I understand first-hand the pressures of academic life and the overwhelm that can come with it.
As a coach, I often describe myself as someone who helps organise my clients’ internal chaos. I offer a safe space to share, reflect, and reconnect with yourself. My style is empathetic, informal, deep, and structured—always with a hint of humour, so that you leave our conversations feeling a little clearer and a little lighter. In my work, everything revolves around connection: connection with yourself—your needs, values, and desires—and connection with others. The tension between autonomy and belonging is something I navigate in my own life and love exploring with clients. I especially enjoy supporting people in setting healthy boundaries, strengthening their sense of self, and cultivating meaningful relationships through self-awareness and authenticity. But overall- come as you are and we will start there.

Wellbeing Coaches

michelle

Michelle Wegter

I am a coach and psychologist at Innara. If you’re experiencing stress, self-doubt, or challenging personal situations — from relationship struggles to the impact of a difficult upbringing, or feelings of anxiety and low mood — it can be hard to know where to start. I offer a safe and non-judgmental space where you can share your story openly and begin to find clarity, confidence, and practical next steps.
In our sessions, I combine coaching with my psychological background and often use breathwork techniques as a tool to reduce stress and help you center and reconnect with yourself. I feel especially called to support those healing from toxic dynamics, reclaiming their voice, and stepping into their light — a journey I know personally. Together, we explore what you need right now, and if necessary, I can guide you to other sources of support within or outside the university.
Nature is woven into my work; for example, I offer sessions outdoors rather than online when desired and possible, and a portion of Innara’s profits goes to environmental and social causes aligned with this vision. Every journey is unique, and my aim is to walk beside you by having conversations together and giving you tools that help you step into the version of yourself that feels most you.

Psychologist

Barbara Kuiters

drs Barbara Kuiters

Workshop "Science of Wellbeing"

by Barbara Kuiters

During this workshop, which is part of this year’s Honours+ workshops,  we will dive into the Science of Well-being.

By teaching you how the brain works and providing you with recent findings on how to boost optimal functioning, this workshop will help you capitalize on positivity and improve your productivity, performance and well-being.

This workshop will be brought to you by drs. Barbara Kuiters. She is a skilled psychologist with an expertise in positive psychology and neuroscience. She runs a successful company as a psychologist, therapist and teacher to educate other (mental) health professionals on the power of positive psychology.

This workshop also counts towards the two workshops students need to have attended by the end of Honours+. Sign up via the button below.

Sign up here for the workshop "Science of wellbeing"

Workshop "Stress Management"

by Key2Advance

During this workshop, which is part of this year’s Honours+ workshops,  we will dive into the topic of how best to manage stress.

We all find ourselves in stressful situations from time to time. Whether at work, during our studies, or when life throws nasty surprises at you. This is normal. But, when does it become problematic? When are you in danger of stress becoming a danger to your health and what do you need to do to avoid this? This workshop will give you basic insights into what stress is, where it comes from, and its effects. You will also get to identify your stress sources and tips on how to better manage these stressors and how to ensure
you have enough resources.

This workshop also counts towards the two workshops students need to have attended by the end of Honours+. Sign up via the button below.

Sign up here for the workshop "Stress Management"

Professional Trainer

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Karolin Biewald (Key2Advance)

Professional Trainer

Patrick Stastra

Patrick Stastra (TijdWinst)

Workshop "Time Management"

by TijdWinst

If you want to excel it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to do more, quantity wise. It foremost means that you deliver better quality. However, of course you really excel when you can do more and do it better.

The problem with our brain is that it needs to be able to focus on the task at hand and that’s hard when there’s so much going on. If you’re stressed, lack a good overview, or your life is just an all-around mess, it’s probably hard to excel at anything.

In order to overcome this, you should:

  • know how your brain works to steer it away from procastination, “multitasking”, and distractions (e.g. a pesky social media habit);
  • know how your brain processes information;
  • streamline all the work that is coming at you (emails, homework, assignments, papers etc.);
  • plan ahead for the large tasks so that you don’t have to do everything at the last moment;
  • keep a good overview of everything on your plate and decide what to focus on.

In the Time-Management workshop we promise you one thing: we are going to cover all of these subjects (and more) in a non-boring fashion. You will be provided with ready-to-use insights and practical tips on how to stay on top of things with the use of the latest insights and technology (you may expect many useful suggestions for how various specific apps can adequately support time management).

This workshop also counts towards the two workshops students need to have attended by the end of Honours+. Sign up via the button below.

Sign up here for the workshop "Time Management"

Honours+ "Walking Buddies"

Hiking in nature for Honours+ students

Walking in nature clears your head, the fresh air lifts your spirit and it is a great way to meet new people. Besides that, we hope that it will add to your knowledge of this beautiful area in the south of the Netherlands. This area is renowned for its diverse landscape, rich history, flora, and fauna, all of it to be explored during the many walking trails that are set out already.

To this end, we will launch a group for all Honours+ students interested in going on walks or hikes with fellow students.  It is up to you to decide how often you would like to go for a walk, how long, when, where and with whom etc.

In case you are interested to be part of this Walking Buddies Group, please send an email to honoursplus@maastrichtuniversity.nl.

Sign me up for the H+ Walking Buddies Group

Know that stress and anxiety are normal reactions

Feeling stressed, sad, or helpless is understandable during moments in your life when a lot of new information comes your way and you are trying to focus your attention on a lot of different things. But learn to recognize when your thoughts are spinning on negative loops and try to interrupt them.

Laura Murray, a senior scientist in Mental Health at the Bloomberg School, writes in a Baltimore Sun op-ed: “The thought patterns circulating through our minds are intricately connected to how we feel and act. Now is a good time to step back and consider what’s trending with our internal narratives.

For example, if you are thinking “This is too much! I cannot handle this!” Not surprisingly, your emotions will more likely skew to significant anxiety. Focus instead, on changing your thought channel to more helpful programming that includes thoughts like, “I am not alone in this, I am allowed to ask for help and guidance and there are capable people here that will help me get through this.'”

At Honours+, you are not just a student, you are an honours student and therefore part of a community. Honours+ Central Management, your Supervisor and the Wellbeing Coach are here to guide you and help you where you need to. Know that you may ask for that help and guidance.

Reach out to Honours+ Central Management when you need to. We can always make time for you to listen to your troubles and concerns, offer clarity where you need it, or just a listening ear. Come by our office at EDLAB, schedule a Zoom call or just send us an email.

Contact H+ Central Management