Waiting for support

This is the longest waitlist the center has ever had, making it a possibility that students not yet on the list will not receive an individual counseling session for non-emergencies before the semester ends.

“We are in a very unusual circumstance this year,” said Counseling Center Director Ross Rapaport. “This is a very large (waitlist) compared to previous years. We’ve never had this many students on it. We’re not exactly sure what’s going on.”

Demand for mental health services usually peaks around the middle of the semester, Rapaport said, but has started increasing earlier over the past few years. In terms of having the longest waiting list in his 33 years at CMU, Rapaport said there is no single cause.

The Counseling Center emails new students added to the list a document of resources and tips to aid them in managing stress as they wait. Rapaport said sometimes other resources on campus end up being better-suited to meet a student's needs, and that there are some helpful things they can do before they get their individual appointment, which are listed in the email.

“Demand for services is not decreasing as enrollment declines. "Actually, as enrollment declines, the demand for services is still increasing,” Rapaport said.

With a long stretch of classes with no break until Thanksgiving, midterm exams and changing weather, mental health tends to be at an all time low. This fact is reflected in the wait lists recorded by the Counseling Center over the past few years, which shows significantly more use for fall semesters compared to the spring.

Financial stress and personal issues can lead some students to their breaking point, which may cause them to seek out counseling help or be referred by a friend or staff member.

“With the dramatic changes that come with college, and the stress and anxiety that comes with finding a career and balancing so many responsibilities in college such as a social life, work, school and future career pressures, students are extremely susceptible to mental health issues," said Valerie Dynda, president of Yellow Ribbon Society Suicide Prevention, a registered student organization that focuses on self-care and the how to spot symptoms of depression and suicide.

There are different mental health and counseling options available to CMU students on campus that vary in cost, accessibility and type of treatment.

Rapaport said to address the long waitlist, he added one part-time counselor for 16 hours a week, and made one part-time counselor full-time. A second part-time counselor hired resigned after two weeks. Her last day was Friday, Nov. 13.

“Requests have been made to hire more full-time staff. Whether or not they will be granted, that’s not my decision,” Rapaport said. “It’s like any place you try to get an additional position; you have to work your way up in the system to do that. I think there is some support, but I don’t know what kind of change we will see.”

The Counseling Center runs on a budget overseen by Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Tony Voisin, that is a part of the general fund.

“I see students posting anonymously (on social media) extremely often, saying they feel alone, stressed, depressed, suicidal or some combination of these. These students should not have to hide behind a screen to admit that they are facing these problems.”

—Valerie Dynda, president of Yellow Ribbon Society Suicide Prevention

For the 2015-2016 year, $810,537 was budgeted for the Counseling Center.

“Ross’ budget does not include money for those temporary counselors,” Voisin said. “I have resources here that are exactly for that purpose. There are needs that pop up throughout the year that are un-budgeted, and that’s why I have (reserve funds) that I can utilize that for.”

The reserve funds are not listed on CMU's operating budget. While the office doesn't make money, Voisin explained, sometimes money is accrued. He gave the example of when a long-time staff member retires, they are sometimes replaced with someone who has less experience and will get paid less, but the salary of the person who retired is still in the budget, making them receive a surplus in funds that can be used for other, un-budgeted expenses. He said he could not disclose the amount of money that could be used for un-budgeted expenses because it is fluid.

Rapaport said he estimated the cost of hiring another full time counselor at the center would be about $60,000 to $80,000 with benefits, increasing with their level of experience.

Voisin said funding the center was not a problem, and if money was needed to hire more staff it would not be an issue.

“That’s my job, to give the directors who report to me the resources they need to effectively manage their job,” Voisin said.

There is a new full-time counselor being hired in December to replace one that will be leaving. Other than that, the focus is to hire temporary staff to fulfill the immediate need.

Coordinator of the Counselor Education Program, Terry McGlasson, said the greater level of awareness for mental health resources needs to be reflected in budget appropriations in all colleges.

“Universities in general are going to have to realize that more budget and resources are going to have to be allocated for more mental health care,” McGlasson said. 

Dynda agreed with the need for colleges to increase the funding of mental health resources on campus.

“I think that the university needs to look at investing more in the Counseling Center as a whole," the Dearborn Heights sophomore said. "They should have a larger number of staff, longer hours, just have more options overall."

McGlasson said in terms of addressing retention at CMU, increasing mental health services is an obvious answer.

“You can hardly make a better argument for retention than mental health services," he said. "If you really want to pound on retention and get students coming back year after year, you want to make sure you have the resources to care for students’ mental health and psychological needs. Students are not going to (seek counseling) on their own, off-campus.”

The Center for Community Counseling and Development, coordinated by McGlasson, is also experiencing a waitlist, fluctuating from five to 10 people.

“Even though we see a variety of issues and diagnosis, I screen pretty carefully so we don’t take any urgent or acute situations,” McGlasson said. “We tend to stay away from that because we don’t want to overwhelm our trainees.”

To deal with less acute mental health issues, McGlasson said the center was an especially good option for students and community members that are not financially stable or lack health insurance.

McGlasson said the growing need for services showed students are more aware of what is available.

“The demand is there nonetheless, and we are not meeting the demand right now because we have too many people waiting to be seen,” he said. “Our center is a little different. We are one of the only (clinics) in the metropolitan area that offers free mental health services, so we have people driving from as far away as Big Rapids right now just to come here.”

One possible reason Voisin gave for the increased demand for mental health services is the increase of awareness of resources available. 

Dynda thinks that more can be done to raise awareness of resources available on campus and the fact that it's OK to ask for help.

“I see students posting anonymously (on social media) extremely often, saying they feel alone, stressed, depressed, suicidal or some combination of these," she said. "Mental health awareness definitely needs to be raised so that it is something people can comfortably talk about and accept in society, not as a character flaw, but as an actual health issue. These students should not have to hide behind a screen to admit that they are facing these problems.”

McGlasson said the level of care the free center provides would cost around $100 an hour if they charged patients.

“We’re in a symbiotic relationship with our clients, they come here knowing they’re working with young trainees, qualified and under my supervision, but they also have to consent to being recorded and observed because that’s part of the training process,” McGlasson said. “In turn, they get free counseling services. It’s a neat partnership.”

He said he was expecting a second class to open up next semester, which would allow more students to be trained and allow more people to access free mental health services.

“Universities in general are going to have to realize that more budget and resources are going to have to be allocated for more mental health care."

—Terry McGlasson, coordinator of the Counselor Education Program

Another resource staffed by graduate students, primarily from the clinical psychology program, is the Psychological Training and Consultation Center, directed by Amanda Lopez. They are the only clinic on campus that can perform psychiatric assessments.

“We’ve been getting a lot more referrals for assessments this fall,” Lopez said. “The therapy cases we’ve been getting from the Counseling Center are usually from the waiting list that can’t wait any longer.”

The Psychological Training and Consultation Center has no waiting list.

“If (someone) needs the services, we won’t tell them that it needs to end or refer out. They keep coming in,” Lopez said.

Graduate student counselors are psychology students working toward independent practice, so they have a little more training than other resources on campus. Every fall, five new students are accepted into the clinical program, and start working in the center their second year.

“We do get quite a few referrals from pediatrician offices, schools or Community Mental Health,” Lopez said. “A lot of people need services and don’t have insurance, so they can’t go anywhere else.”

The clinics refer patients to each other as needed, and have started to collaborate more this year than in the past, Lopez said.

The CARE Team is a university initiative within the Office of Student Affairs that is another way for students or faculty members to be connected to the right mental health clinic or resource for their situation. Students or staff members can anonymously refer themselves or anyone at CMU they recognize as needing some kind of counseling assistance. 

"It takes great strength and courage to ask for help," said CARE Team Coordinator and Counselor in Residence Deanna Johnson. "We have students submitting reports on themselves and faculty members that have reached out to students in the classroom that are still concerned and are looking for additional way to try to reach out."