Student Counseling Services

ANNIE PATEL – Evident from late nights in the library to becoming reliant on caffeine to get through the day, the college environment has caused lots of stress and pressure towards students. For this reason, many universities are offering therapy and counseling services to their students to discuss their stressors and to help support their mental health. With their main goal of supporting their students, many places had to adjust their services due to the pandemic and online schooling. 

These therapy and counseling services offered are often heavily advertised on campuses in order to encourage more students to use them. Colleges heavily advertise these services because only about 10-15% of the student population of most American universities and colleges use these offered services.  A 2018 American Health Association’s survey discovered that 60% of the students in the higher education student population have anxiety with 55% “feeling hopeless”,. Given these alarming statistics, there needs to be a greater emphasis on the benefits that these programs can offer to students. With more advertising to promote the ways that these services can improve the mental health of students, about 90% of American universities and colleges “reported an increase in students seeking services.” However, even though an increase in the utilization of these services is a good sign, there are still many more ways to increase involvement in these programs to reach even more of the student population.

Due to the pandemic and switch to online classes, there also had to be changes to the way these services are offered. This change is necessary because the pandemic has also contributed to poorer mental health among students due to the anxiety, grief, and even losses they have experienced during this time. As a result, therapy and counseling services moved to an online format along with the plethora of other services and classes that are being conducted remotely. However, initially about 60% of students found it more difficult to access this care privately, while some of the directors and providers of these services feel that in-person sessions were more productive than the online format. As months passed into the pandemic, more students began to reach out and participate in these services again after initial hesitation and uncertainty over the pandemic. Despite these initial difficulties with adjusting, the main goal of the programs stayed constant in that they strive to continue supporting the students and provide them with options to seek care and help.

Overall, the aim of these programs and services are to assist students with their academic and future careers by allowing them to focus and better their mental health. Regardless of whether they are offered online or in-person, the providers are there to offer students any support they need, especially for issues concerning anxiety and depression. However, there is still much to be done to reach even more students and better support them.

Copy Editor: Aditi Madhusudan