Counseling services help students deal with issues
Each week, 187 students sought help from the CMU Counseling Center.
Ross Rapaport, director of the center located in Foust Hall, said free counseling is offered to students. Students typically are dealing with grief and loss, managing their stress and anxiety, survivors of sexual assault, those with dysfunctional families and those new to the United States can take advantage of support groups that offer a safe space for students who need support.
This semester's 26.5 percent freshman enrollment increase, has resulted in more students utilizing the counseling center to adjust to university life. Rapaport said he anticipates an increase in demand for counseling based on the higher freshmen enrollment, however students who need help are distributed across all class standings.
“We’re seeing proportionally many more students (this year) than we did at this time last year,” Rapaport said. “There are ebbs and flows. Our demand for services spiked this year in the third week. We typically wouldn’t have seen that until later in the semester."
The counseling center typically becomes more busy during midterms, however things slow down during finals week as many students are leaving Mount Pleasant for holiday or summer break.
Students who take advantage of counseling services are usually seen four or five times, Rapaport said. While there is a waiting list for ongoing appointments, the counseling center offers walk-in appointments for emergencies.
“Our services are primarily intended to be shorter-term counseling”, Rapaport said. “There are two other clinics that are training clinics on campus, the Human Development Clinic for masters level students in the counselor education program, and the Psychological Training and Consultation Center for graduate students in the clinical school of psychology”.
The Human Development clinic, located on the third floor of the Education and Human Services building, assists students and community members.
Twinet Parmer, professor of counselor education, said there is no limit to how many times students can receive counseling at the Human Development clinic.
“We will see people as long as they come”, Parmer said. We like for people to come long enough to give us an opportunity to work with them and help them cope with a situation”.
The Human Development Clinic is only open as long as classes are in session during the academic year because it is run by graduate students. Ellen Armbruster, a professor in the counselor education program said graduate students typically provide the counseling, while faculty from the counselor education program oversee things.
Foust is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Appointments can be made with the Human Development Clinic by complete a referral form. Once a referral form is completed, the client will receive a phone call from a Counselor to set up the first appointment.
