Counseling: Beneficial For Everyone

Sitting in waiting room, tapping your pen nervously, you wonder what your friends would think as you sit and fill out the standard questionnaire on top of the torn up cover of “Sports Illustrated”.

Despite some of the stigma that still clings to counseling today, it really is for everyone, Staff Assistant Maren Seamons said.

In regards for what the counseling center helps with, Seamons said that they “say personal and/or mental health issues because it could be anything personal they want to discuss, maybe bounce ideas around.”

From problems ranging from depression, anxiety, home sickness, stress, copping, and varying others, students find refuge and help in the counseling center in the Taggart Student Center at USU.

Mason Gates, a student at USU, said, “I went there after one of my friends passed away.”

Gates further said how he had gone once the year before and currently attends regularly once a week to help him with his grief as well as other problems that he is having.

Seamons said the average number of sessions that students have is around 8 and that they have 7 professional staff members that work full time, 3 pre-doctoral interns, and 2 graduate assistants attending USU in the psychology department.

Animal therapy is also available to students as the counseling center, though some students like to come in simply to pet them, Seamons said.

International students are encouraged to seek visit the center if they need it, Seamons said, but “sometimes there can be cultural and language barriers.”

Seamons further went on and said that they try and get international students in with a counselor first to see how they feel about it and then have them fill out the paper work to make it easier for them.

International students have many of the same problems just like everyone else, like depression, anxiety, or homesickness Seamons said.

But sometimes they have adjustment issues or problems with finding themselves a minority that other students might not face on campus.

Right now, Seamons said, the counseling center is entering it’s busiest time of year as many students start to feel anxiety, depression, and homesickness though the issues that students go in to face are not limited to these.

Waiting lists for on-going counseling are starting to form but if someone needs emergency counseling it is available, Seamons said, a session in the morning and one in the afternoon are set aside for such instances.

Frequently teachers will suggest to the center when they feel that a student is in need of speaking to someone, though not everyone is willing to come in and do not seek out help contacted, Seamons said.

The easiest time to enroll for counseling is just before fall semester starts, Seamons said, and need to be enrolled with at least six credits at USU.

On their website, http://www.usu.edu/counseling/services/, it states that a variety of services are available from group counseling, outreach programs and workshops, animal therapy, and “reach peers” with are “undergraduate students who volunteer time to meet with fellow students.”

Other information about the USU Counseling Center and what it offers can be found at http://www.usu.edu/counseling/.