Chemistry graduate students at the University of British Columbia are using a unique form of therapy to get through the always-stressful exam season.

Thanks to the school’s glassblower, Brian Ditchburn, students can release pent-up emotions by breaking glass.

“If I see a student wandering the halls looking like a zombie because of their comprehensive exams, or exams, I invite them in to break some glass,” he said.

Ditchburn says he did this for most of his 25 years in college.

“I didn’t know destructive therapy was a real term,” Ditchburn joked.

Urmi Mody, a doctoral student, was visiting the Ditchburn store for the first time on Friday, looking for a new way to try to relax.

“Normally we just go on hikes or attend group dinners,” she said.

“But it’s more individualistic, more force involved, more interesting,” Mody said.

Although Ditchburn recycles about 90 percent of old glass, he always makes sure to have a good supply in case someone needs to let it all out.

“Whether they’re behind on exams or their chemistry isn’t going as well as they’d like, this gives them a chance to release that stress by breaking in something that seems expensive but isn’t.” , said Ditchburn, who has an open-door policy.

“As soon as they get stressed, they start coming here regularly,” he said.

“They are more than welcome.”