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by C. L. Stambush
Anxiety and depression are considered the “common cold” of mental health illness.
- Dr. B. Thomas Longwell
Although the sentence contains just 11 simple words, its message is powerful and hopeful: So far, I’ve made it through 100 percent of my rough days. It’s a maxim Dr. B. Thomas Longwell, director of USI’s Counseling Center, wants students to be mindful of as they struggle with mental health issues that, if left unaddressed, could derail their education.
“We are helping students emotionally and intra- personally,” he says. “That’s important for health and well-being, but it serves them academically as well. If a student is not okay emotionally, they’re not going to be okay academically.”
The Counseling Center is staffed by five full-time and one part-time professional mental health experts who offer students individual, group or couples counseling, as well as substance use assessment and consultations for those concerned about a friend or a loved one who is a USI student. If a student’s mental health issue is beyond the scope of what USI counselors can offer, the client is referred to an agency equipped to provide the best care.
The most common mental health issues students seek help for are anxiety and depression—the two go hand-in-hand— which results either in connection to a major life event, such as a relationship breakup or academic and financial struggles, or as General Anxiety Disorder (GAD). “People with GAD worry about the same things everybody else worries about—grades, money, love—but at a higher and deeper level,” says Longwell. “Worry is an expected part of life for most of us, but catastrophizing an issue only leads to undermining your abilities to develop positive mental health coping strategies.”
46% of the people in the United States will be diagnosed with some form of mental health illness in their lifetime. The average age for the onset for any disorder is 14 years old, with anxiety issues setting in at age 11.
-Dr. B. Thomas Longwell
Teaching basic coping skills is key to equipping students to deal with their struggles, both today and tomorrow. But, before that can happen there must be trust. While each counselor has a different approach to restoring mental health, they all practice first and foremost kindness, compassion, warmth, empathy and unconditional positive regard. “This forms the core of our counseling sessions,” says Longwell. “For students, it’s important to find the right fit with a counselor. I could give you the greatest coping skills in the world, but if you don’t feel connected to me you may not use them.”
Gaining a client’s trust and establishing a connection isn’t derived from feel-good affirmations often seen on posters depicting a cute kitten hanging from a branch with the quip ‘Hang in There,’ but rather through active listening. “A large portion of what we do is just listen,” Longwell says, “but in a very strategic way. Active listening uses a lot of paraphrasing, metaphor, reflecting back what was heard. By doing this, we tell our students, ‘I get it,’ which allows them to go even deeper and explore more and learn things about themselves they wouldn’t otherwise.”
Mental health is primarily addressed within the Counseling Center, but the University believes the overall responsibility for students’ well-being belongs to the campus community as a whole, from faculty and staff, to students’ friends to every level of the administration. This team-based approach results in faculty and staff trained to watch for signs of distress and take appropriate action. Resident assistants undergo intense instruction on USI’s policies and procedures and learn to ask students questions in a way that doesn’t shut them down. The Dean of Students Office created the CARE Team, a cross- functional assessment group that responds to students in apparent/potential distress. “The CARE Team lives up to its name by identifying students who need additional support and resources to achieve their personal and academic goals. We discuss students individually in a manner that considers all aspects of their well-being,” says Dr. Bryan Rush, dean of students.
35.3% of students report that at some point they felt “so depressed that it was difficult to function.”
-National College Health Assessment (Fall 2015)
Even with all the conversations in the media and among our politicians, the subject of mental health is often shrouded in a code of silence. “I think the stigma connected to mental health is stronger in our neck of the woods,” says Longwell. “The Midwest ethic—when struggling—is to power through it. Don’t talk about it because it reflects poorly on you and your family.” This is particularly true of veterans, says Joel Matherly, manager of the Veteran, Military and Family Resource Center at USI. “Vets don’t seek help often. It’s seen as a weakness. The military is often seen as the ‘last line of defense.’ Because of this vets don’t feel they can ask for help because no one is ‘behind’ them.”
To combat the stigma, the Counseling Center hosted 181 outreach events in 2015/16, reaching over 9,000 members of USI’s community with the message that there’s no shame in getting help. “For a university’s counseling center to be able to maintain that high of an outreach is a rarity,” says Longwell, noting that Dr. Stephanie Cunningham, senior staff psychologist and outreach/training coordinator, made this happen.
It’s easy to see that USI is doing a lot of things right, but Longwell says there’s room for improvement. “I’d give us a B. Our CARE Team is firing on all cylinders,” he says. “We added two counselors to our staff. If you’d asked me last year what grade I’d give us it would have been a C. Those two counselors bumped us up a whole grade.”
Despite the strides made, Longwell says, “It’s not where I think we want to be.” What would it take to score an A? The director’s wish list is short: a psychiatrist on campus just as there is a physician; counselors specializing in substance abuse and eating disorders; and lessening the wait period to get an appointment with a counselor. (During peak times— midterms and finals—students may have to wait a couple of weeks to see a counselor if it’s not an emergency. Emergencies are always attended to immediately.)
USI’s Counseling Center is focused on helping students reach their career dreams. “The number-one reason students leave a university isn’t because they can’t handle it academically,” says Longwell, “it’s because of social and emotional difficulties. In addition to being a positive, supportive office where students feel cared for, we also are a retention agent. This year, the Counseling Center helped retain an estimated 213 students. If we are successful in our treatment of them, not only do we make a difference in their here and now, but we make a difference in their academic lives, allowing them to succeed and become good productive citizens of the world, which is the University’s goal.”
Impact of Counseling Center 2015-2016:
Percentages in parenthesis indicate increases from 2014-2015.
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