This story was reported and written by VPM News.
The beginning of fall is usually a busy time for college counseling offices. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s gotten even busier.
Brian Lusk, director of student counseling services at Radford University, said the first several weeks of last fall’s semester were the busiest since at least 2017, with students coming in for help navigating a wide range of issues.
He said the increase in demand is a blessing and a curse.
“It's a blessing in that students see the need to reach out and work on their mental health, and be as proactive as possible,” Lusk said. “The curse part is we just don't have enough staffing to be able to adequately see students ongoingly.”
When Lusk started in his current role in 2019, he implemented a counseling session limit, so that students on a waiting list for services at the time could be seen. Students can now choose between six hour-long sessions or 12 30-minute sessions per semester.
Multiple areas in Southwest Virginia — including the city of Radford and the counties that border it — have been designated by the federal government as experiencing a shortage of mental health workers. Forty percent of Virginians live in communities with a shortage of mental health services.
In 2022, Virginia lawmakers approved $1 million to fund a pilot program at a handful of state colleges and universities to help increase the number of licensed counselors in these areas — to meet students’ growing need for on-campus therapy services. This year, lawmakers allocated another $1 million to continue the program.
“You can't address the student need without addressing the workforce shortage,” said Emily Salmon, acting director of strategic planning and policy studies at the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
Two years in, the program has resulted in decreased appointment wait times for students and improved staff morale at on-campus counseling centers, according to a recent SCHEV report.
The funding helps students with masters’ degrees in counseling or social work obtain the supervised clinical hours necessary to gain licensure. SCHEV recently announced the state approved funds for another two years of service for all but one of the universities.
SCHEV's report on the program noted that college “often marks a transition toward independent living, self-awareness and self-advocacy” — coupled with a time in which many mental health problems begin showing up. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the largest increases in mental health problems occur during the traditional college-going years, from 18 to 29.
Mark Edwards, whose temporary position was funded as part of the first round of the pilot program at Radford, said college is often when students start to realize how they’re being affected by past trauma.
“They're getting away from their home environment, and they have space to recognize: ‘Wow, OK, I'm finally safe, and now my body's allowing me to feel all this stuff, which is just totally overwhelming,’” Edwards said.
For Edwards, who completed his master’s in counseling at Radford in 2018, the grant-funded position has allowed him to counsel students while also completing clinical hours that he needs to gain licensure.
Licensed professional counselors need 3,400 hours of supervised clinical work experience.
Edwards, like many of the others hired for the pilot program, hopes to keep counseling students in the higher education space.
“I'm trying to help [students] come to a place of flourishing and excitement for life,” Edwards said. “That's my favorite part of the job.”
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