In response to events on April 16, counseling services at several universities have improved their programs.
Rita Klein, assistant director and head of clinical services at Virginia Tech's Cook Counseling Center illuminated some of the changes being made at Tech's center, so as to better help the student body.
Klein said that for the past month, the center has been hosting programs across the campus where they meet with faculty and staff members to talk them through the process of making referrals for students who may need psychological help.
"When requested, we will meet with specific departments or specific groups and present that information to them," Klein said. "We have always gone into class rooms when faculty requests and talk to students and talk about our services and talk about mental health needs and that is something we are continuing to do."
Klein said there was also an e-mail sent to faculty and students during the beginning of the school year to inform them of the services at Cook Counseling Center.
As a result the center has been much busier this year.
"I think people are a lot more aware of what we have to offer," Klein said.
Health centers at the University of Virginia and Christopher Newport University have also enacted changes in mental health procedures in response to the April 16 shootings.
Russ Federman, Ph.D., director for Counseling and Psychological Services at the University of Virginia described some of the changes being made on its campus.
"There haven't been any changes in our service delivery," Federman said, "The changes I have seen have been administratively in terms of administrative concerns of faculty receiving information regarding mental health issues."
Federman stated that the Psychological Service at UVa had been performing several presentations to faculty members about mental health issues. UVa started the program for these presentations two years ago.
They now provide data about the prevalence of mental health issues within the student body and about the UVa student body utilization of the health services, Federman said.
"We provide information about signs to be mindful of or aware of in relation to students who may need help," Federman said. "We provide simple referral information on how to get students help or faculty consultation if and when faculty members are concerned about students."
Federman related the level of success for these programs to their adequate staffing in psychological services.
"We also have a fairly good size staff," he said. "We could always use more but over the last couple of years we have had relatively adequate services."
Overall, Federman hopes the events of April 16 will allow universities to re-evaluate their counseling programs for students and hopefully make improvements.
"For most universities, hopefully what you are going to see over several years and time is a gradual increase in mental health services because it's needed," he said.
Bill Ritchey, associate director for the Office of Counseling Services at Christopher Newport University said that CNU has been really advocating its instructor referral system.
Ritchey said that this system has been in place for several years and was initiated by the academic departments, which has been very helpful with their services.
"I think we have developed a really collaborative relationship with our faculty," Ritchey said.
This referral system allows university faculty and staff to refer students in need of psychological counseling through an online system by forwarding information to appropriate receivers. Faculty and staff have also been encouraged to contact the Office of Counseling Services directly as well.
Students and parents of those incoming students are also well informed throughout orientation of the counseling services available at CNU.
"Our names and faces are put out there from the minute they step on campus," Ritchey said.
Ritchey said that the counseling services at CNU does not place limits on their student visitations unless the student requires more help than the center can provide.
Ritchey said the limitations, while necessary at some universities, "affect the framing of the therapeutic environment."
Within this therapeutic environment Richey knows that personal development is essential. "We want to help people grow, not just help people not have problems."
The students at CNU are able to be seen weekly, if necessary.
There are six full time psychologists on staff to serve approximately 4,800 students which comprise the student body at CNU. One of the psychologists was recently hired to be sure that resources were sufficient for students.
"We try to be on the cutting edge of these things, and April 16 is an example as to why this is so important," Ritchey said.
Ritchey said that from him personal experience, he had seen an increase in students seeking psychological assistance after the events of April 16.
"I don't have the numbers to back that up, but I do think these types of events do cause us to take pause and look at particular things in our own life that we want to address, and I do see some increased attendance in students wanting to come to counseling centers," Ritchey said.
Ritchey said that here are a lot of our students, at CNU, that have very deep and connected relationships with students that were lost or greatly affected at Tech.
"We still feel like we are a part of Virginia Tech-we are VT," said Ritchey.
While the Virginia Tech counseling center may be more busy than usual, the goal
of the psychiatrists there is to meet with students within a day of their
request.
"We have never had a waiting list and we will always meet with anyone that requests it, whether it is a student or a faculty member to consult about students if they have a concern," Klein said.
Klein said that the center may be able to meet with students weekly on a short-term basis, but for those with severe problems, they may need to seek counseling outside the school's services to receive regular treatment for the entire year.
"We see a lot of the same students, and there is a wide range in the number of times a person comes in ... I think the mode is about three or four times a semester," Klein said.
Klein stated that they are still in the process of looking at the recommendations and changes to the counseling center; but, as of right now they plan on hiring three new officials. One will be a psychiatrist and nurse practitioner. The other two will be psychologists and counselors.