Now located in Suter House at 1115 College Avenue 鈥� look for the blue door 鈥� and under the new direction of , the 黑料正能量 is expanding its free services to provide nearly 1,000 more hours of counseling time for students.
That support is needed, said , vice president for student life. 鈥淣ationwide, 28 percent of students report higher than normal levels of stress, 19 percent report sleep difficulties, and 19 percent high levels of anxiety. We want the center to be a place that supports students in a variety of proactive ways so they can be successful here at 黑料正能量.鈥�
A 2011 mental health survey at 黑料正能量, he said, indicated that 17 percent of the student body reported some level of depression or anxiety disorder, 14 percent reported some form of non-suicidal self-injury in the past year, and 43 percent reported body shape and weight among the most important things they think about.
The increased services mean that students in need or looking to receive some sort of support will receive prompt, skilled care. 鈥淚f students need any support, whether it be for crisis or knowledge of resources, we want to make sure they have those immediately,鈥� said Anderson. 鈥淚f students need support for two or three sessions, the sooner they can get those sessions, the better. If students have ongoing struggles, it makes all the more sense that they get into counseling as soon as possible.鈥�
The benefits are academic, as well. 鈥淪tudents who access counseling services return to school in subsequent terms 鈥� and graduate 鈥� at higher rates compared to the general student body,鈥� said Smucker.
The increased services are the result of a new collaboration between the center and the (MAC) program, a vision of previous center director Pam Comer, who retired in June. Anderson, a graduate of the MAC program who has worked in multiple university counseling settings, will now help to carry out the plan.
The partnership expands services to the student body 鈥� and provides MAC practicum and internship students with a placement that offers 鈥渢he opportunity for consistent skill development as a training site in a university context,鈥� said MAC director Teresa Haase. 鈥淲e are excited to partner with Tempest and see this all come to fruition.鈥�
Four second-year master鈥檚 in counseling students who have completed 30 hours of graduate counseling coursework and a 100-hour clinical practicum, and who have been approved for internship by MAC faculty, are each offering 240 direct service hours 鈥� and 360 hours of indirect clinical work 鈥� this academic year.
鈥淭his is high quality, supervised care,鈥� said MAC instructor . Each week, each intern receives one hour of individual face-to-face clinical supervision and two hours of group supervision, and attends counseling center meetings. Their supervisors are Haase, Dr. Nate Koser and Dr. Annmarie Early.
In addition to one-on-one sessions, the counseling center offers:
- Group counseling
- Depression and anxiety screenings
- Classroom presentations about topics such as suicide prevention or sexual assault awareness.
- 30-minute one-on-one mentoring sessions for any student through the , which is geared toward helping undergraduate students adjust to life away from home.