The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 08, 1993, Survival Guide, Page Page 9, Image 23
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
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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.
College students who suffer
unmanageable depression, anxiety
or develop serious substance abuse
problems may leave school and lose
their student status, often making
them ineligible for insurance thai
would cover treatment.
ult.
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