Students shy from counseling services

“My problems are too petty for counseling.”

This first-year’s response in an informal, anonymous survey of Columbia students echoed a familiar refrain that both Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) at Columbia and Furman Counseling Center at Barnard are working hard to dispel.

Perhaps one of the most tenacious obstacles in counseling services’ outreach efforts is the campus-wide perception that there are only certain problems for which it is worthwhile to seek help.

“Most people think that mental health is the same as mental illness, and only the really serious/suicidal issues count,” one CC senior wrote on her survey.

Ashley Ellenson, SEAS ’11, has always been surprised by this mentality. A regular therapy patient in high school, she never hesitated to ask for counseling, regardless of the severity of her problems.

“Whenever I’m depressed or feeling sad and I can’t really understand what’s gnawing at me, then I’ll go,” she said. “Last year I was a first-year and it was hard to adjust ... it was taking a toll on me, being in such a different environment.”

Ellenson first sought help at CPS last spring. But after only three sessions, she was referred off-campus due to the high congestion of students.

Her experience was a result of the inevitable prioritization of higher-risk students and a trend in general attitudes towards mental health. Mary Commerford, director of Furman, has sensed a shift in therapy away from developmental issues such as Ellenson’s toward a more clinical approach to serious disorders.

“Traditionally, they were always considered places where you worked with students who had developmental issues—identity and career and asking those kind of questions,” she said of the counseling offices. “In the six years I’ve been here, it’s still shifting, and that’s the nationwide trend. Because there’s more demand for some severe diagnosis, the focus has pulled more toward that, and away a bit from time to talk about identity development and career searching.”

Still, CPS and Furman are making an effort to address both ends of the spectrum. Richard Eichler, director of CPS, encourages students who believe their problems are not serious enough to make an appointment anyway.

“Even if the anxiety is perfectly normative, we’re very glad to be of service to people who have understandable worries,” Eichler said. “It doesn’t have to be outside normal distribution.”
At CPS, the addition new staff may help give students like Ellenson the attention they need. This semester, they implemented a psychiatric residency rotation in partnership with Health Services. This program gives students access to licensed physicians who are completing advanced psychiatric training.

“It’s wonderful for the students here in several different ways,” Eichler said. “The staff is invested, there’s a kind of excitement and learning when you have new people who come in to ask questions we may forget to ask after being here for a while.”

Across the street at Furman, a new program offers “mini-courses” to teach students psychological coping skills that may help them readdress developmental issues and feel more comfortable with counseling services.

“Everybody here is used to taking classes—maybe people would be comfortable with signing up for a three-session course on improving their coping skills rather than feeling they have to come for therapy,” Commerford said. “We’re going to try to diversify what we’re known for—not just therapy, but life skills.”

The program hopes make services more accessible, and staff will continue trying to reach as many students as possible—a daunting task in a university of about 25,000 students.
Yet for some students, outreach alone may not be enough to dispel the stigma of therapy.

“People who are nervous about therapy need to feel safe and comfortable,” one CC junior wrote on his survey. “Basically, you have to make them forget they’re in therapy.”
“When I have [felt a need for help], I felt more comfortable with close friends,” wrote Daniel Aprahamian, SEAS ’11, on his survey.

Others said that a more proactive approach is needed to truly make a difference.

“It’s not enough to just put up flyers. I feel bombarded with signs advertising counseling but that doesn’t make me suddenly want to go,” wrote Danielle Hoo, BC ’10.
Aileen Farren, BC ’11 agreed, suggesting, “CPS could advertise on a more personal level (one on one recommendations to go or have people discuss their experiences to show others it’s okay).”

Ellenson added that CPS should cultivate an easygoing image to students worried that their problems do not merit attention. Some may be intimidated by the formality of the office, which Ellenson described as cold and sterile.

“I’ve never personally felt a stigma against going to therapy,” she said, and yet, “I felt a little more uncomfortable going up there [to CPS’s office on the 8th floor of Lerner] for some reason ... I was so aware of the fact that I was going to therapy and that’s not normally something I particularly think about.”

CPS’s residential offices currently serve as outposts to the main office in Lerner and could grow into a more important role in the future. Two more drop-in offices in residential buildings have opened since 2006, making a total of five on campus.

“You know, we started with one office, so to think that there are five and that they’re resource-intensive is remarkable,” said Eichler.

Eichler said these offices have reached more students in different schools, such as the law school and General Studies. They also have the potential to reach a different kind of patient who wants an alternative environment.

“Satellite offices are friendlier ... that helps because I think you want to feel like you’re in a home environment, you want to feel like you’re comfortable in order to be able to open up,” Ellenson said. “It would be cool if you could go to a session at one of those offices instead of just drop in.”

In the meantime, counseling services are on the alert for new strategies to attract students and overcome stigma. They encourage students to give feedback about their experiences and suggest new ideas for improvement.

“Anyone can make a complaint, and students do from time to time,” Eichler said. “Occasionally they have something nice to say as well. We would like it if students would come to myself and my associate directors.”

Ellenson’s suggestion to CPS is clear: always make students feel at home. She explained, “The best thing CPS could do is to be a friend, not a therapist.”

news@columbiaspectator.com