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Counselir i in studen By College Press Service The nation's college counseling services are straining under the burden of a burgeoning client load as insurance companies cut funds for private therapy, forcing students to Seek Siinnort at ramnnc mpnial r r ? health centers. A report issued by the International Association of Counseling Services Inc., which provides data from the directors of 298 college counseling centers nationwide, shows that 87 percent of the directors said they Saw more clients in 1992 than in 1991. This figure is up 13 percent since 1990 and up 31 percent since 1988. To meet the demand, some counseling centers have resorted to short-term counseling, cutting the standard 50 minutes to a half hour, lciemng students needing additional help to outside sources. The practice of "brief therapy," which consists of seeing students in a limited number of intense sessions, has become popular. The shortened therapy, which has created a controversy among health professionals, consists of as few as three meetings or as many as 26 sessions. "The way the number 26 was arrived at was the fact that 75 percent of clients have resolved many problems in 26 sessions," said Jane Williams, director of the counseling center at Albright College in Reading, Pa. "But many students need many more months, even years, of therapy. "The normal development of college students is a lot more traumatic these days. Many have experienced alcoholism in their families, the loss of a friend in high school, and the level of domestic violence has grown." Williams noted that there has been a 40 percent increase in the use of the Albright counseling center in the past two years. "More students are coming from homes where incest and substance abuse are all too common. College is thp first rimp manv cfnHontc o?-<? ? ? UlUUVlllO CU V/ able to get out of these dysfunctional situations, but they carry a lot of problems with them," Williams said. But unhappy families are not the only reason students are seeking out couseling, say experts. Counseling has received a social acceptance 1 unheard of a generation ago, and * many of the children of parents, who shudder at the idea of talking 1 over problems with a professional, ' don't hesitate to try therapy. 1 In addition, today's students are I mure cnnhictirainH olwuii ik, ? *> i ?>v?v W^UIUUVUIVU UlA/Ul UIV UX/ 1/1 4 I 5 Ifsj ig plays I ts' lives anti-depressants, and are quicker to recognize depression in themselves than the generation before them, said Linda Jo Pym of the University of Washington student mental health clinic. The clinic always has a waiting list, she said, with many students referring other students to their favorite counselor. "Students are under incredible pressure. They are worried about their economic future, their relationship future. They've been brought up, like all of us, to think a relationship is going to make us happy," Pym said. Students are under incredible pressure. They are worried about their economic future, their relationship future. The clinic limits counseling sessions to 12 per academic year; however, students who are on medication receive unlimited sessions. To handle the great caseload at Depauw University's counseling center in Greencastle, Ind., the two counselors have resorted to shortterm sessions, and refer the student to outside help if they need more extensive treatment. "This is the first generation of students I've seen that are concerned about whether they will be able to find the jobs that will provide a living standard they are used to," said Patsy Donn, director of counseling and psychological services at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. At Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Mich., Pat Ponto, director of counseling, said that they have had to increase the counseling staff since 1986 to better serve students. "We're trying to be morepro-ac uve oy doing programming that fits the issues that students are bringing to us... sexual abuse, eating disorders and acquaintance rape." Students can access listening tapes at Ohio Northern University in Ada by dialing a number at certain telephone locations on the campus. The tapes provide counseling information, inspirational messages ind attempt to boost students' spirimoke. Die. 'our own fa arger role its. The school also provides sti dents with a guidance program th; includes stress management an tips for emotional adjustment. Judith Provost, director of th counseling center at Rollins Colleg in Winter Park, Fla., said she h? seen progressive growth in th number of students requestin counseling support in her 18 yeai at the college. "It's a reflection of what's goin on in society. Families are mor chaotic. There are problems wit violence. We see it all reflected i counseling," Provost said. Due to budget cuts, the Rollin counseling center eliminated a posi tion from its staff, leaving twi counselors to work with student this fall. Provost said that as of thi year the center has not had to trin the time spent in therapy. "We just do psychological coun seling. We are separate from acade mic and career counseling, so tha helps with the load," she said. "The average student make; three and a half therapy visits, anc we do a lot of brief therapy, yei there are some students who come in every week for the whole ninemonth calendar," Provost said. At a meeting of directors ol Florida college counseling centers last year, it was observed that there has been an increase in serious psychopathology such as manic depression or obsessive disorders among college students, Provost said. "Sometimes students need the expertise of a psychiatrist as well as a counselor. It is a challenge to Find services that the students can afford," she said. Williams, at Albright College, said the same is true throughout the country. "We used to see common adjustment problems among a number of students, but now it's far more serious than that," Williams said. Driven by low self-esteem, isolation, substance abuse and withdrawal, about eight in 100,000 college students take their lives, according to a report by the Journal of College Students Psychotherapy, which studied the issues at 200 campuses last year. Since menial health services are usually highly accessible to college students, there is an opportunity to prevent suicide that their non-college peers do not have, say health experts. 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