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Transcript

How to: Mental Health · Learn by Listening

0:02
Speaker 1: Cal Poly is in session. Students swarm through campus and
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Speaker 1: file in and out of classes. You're thinking about the
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Speaker 1: chapter reading they have tonight, their next class, their new dorm,
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Speaker 1: their senior project, how to get to the gym, what's
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Speaker 1: for dinner tonight? Where's in yours bathroom? Kate and I
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Speaker 1: know things can get a bit chaotic as a student
0:17
Speaker 1: navigating the ins and outs of college life.
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Speaker 2: At cal Poly, we focus on learning by doing, but
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Speaker 2: sometimes you don't know what to do well. Emma and
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Speaker 2: I are here to answer your who, what, when, where, why,
0:28
Speaker 2: and how's here? On CP one oh one Learned by Listening,
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Speaker 2: presented by KCPR ninety one point three.
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Speaker 1: Hi Mustang, I'm Emma Hughes, a third year English student, and.
0:37
Speaker 2: I'm Kate Lopenski, a third year journalism student here at
0:40
Speaker 2: cal Poly, and we're here to share our tell all
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Speaker 2: guide on how to survive and thrive at cal Poly
0:45
Speaker 2: San Luis Obispo.
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Speaker 1: So grab a notebook. You may want to write this down.
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Speaker 2: In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we wanted to
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Speaker 2: provide you with all the resources you'll need to navigate
1:02
Speaker 2: this essential topic at cal Poly.
1:04
Speaker 1: We'll share a bit about our own mental health experiences
1:07
Speaker 1: and discuss some resources available on campus. We also interviewed
1:10
Speaker 1: the director of counseling services to provide you with the
1:13
Speaker 1: best information. So before we get into the actual interview
1:17
Speaker 1: with an expert, Kate, I was curious about how your
1:21
Speaker 1: mental health journey has been since starting college.
1:24
Speaker 2: I mean, it definitely took a lot of twists and
1:26
Speaker 2: turns because as we all know, this is a really
1:29
Speaker 2: challenging time in our lives.
1:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, college is all about change, as we know, and
1:35
Speaker 1: that creates a lot of uneasiness, especially for mental health.
1:40
Speaker 2: I mean share college is fun and all, but you're
1:43
Speaker 2: learning how to be your own independent self and a
1:45
Speaker 2: full on adult, which is crazy. So I went through
1:50
Speaker 2: my whole life, as it turns out, with generalized anxiety
1:53
Speaker 2: disorder and had no idea how life and she just
1:56
Speaker 2: really hit her peek during college. Yes, and so it
2:01
Speaker 2: came to a point where I was like, how do
2:04
Speaker 2: I get to the point where I don't feel like
2:06
Speaker 2: I have a Doc Martin stomping on my chest every
2:08
Speaker 2: time I wake up in the morning.
2:10
Speaker 1: And have we reached that point? Yes?
2:12
Speaker 2: We have because I actually used Calpol mental health resources.
2:16
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, amazing.
2:18
Speaker 2: I did one on one counseling, which is so helpful
2:21
Speaker 2: in my opinion, And we're gonna learn a bit more
2:24
Speaker 2: about that from Andrea later on. So, Emma, I know
2:28
Speaker 2: that you're more of a DIY girl when it comes
2:30
Speaker 2: to mental health, So tell me a bit about what
2:32
Speaker 2: you've been doing to keep yourself healthy and happy right now.
2:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I have definitely considered campus resources, but never
2:41
Speaker 1: actually took the next step and getting involved with that.
2:46
Speaker 1: But I actually do a lot of journaling, so I
2:51
Speaker 1: just really vent. It's like it's basically a diary, let's
2:55
Speaker 1: be real, But I just vent through writing and of
2:59
Speaker 1: course me being my little English made yourself just read
3:02
Speaker 1: a good book for escapism and then write in my
3:05
Speaker 1: journal about anything and everything. That's kind of been what
3:09
Speaker 1: keeps me going because I just I get to see either, oh,
3:13
Speaker 1: like I'm being a little over dramatic about this experience,
3:17
Speaker 1: like it's not that deep. It gives me time to
3:19
Speaker 1: really reflect on my own experiences, but also gives me
3:22
Speaker 1: clarity about no, like I am definitely feeling these things
3:26
Speaker 1: and I'm allowed to feel these things. And yeah, so
3:28
Speaker 1: that's kind of been my experience. Just I definitely take
3:33
Speaker 1: time for myself to work on things and reflect for sure, And.
3:37
Speaker 2: That just shows how unique your mental health approach can be,
3:41
Speaker 2: because I really like talking it out with someone who
3:44
Speaker 2: does not have any stake in my life whatsoever. Right,
3:47
Speaker 2: that is extremely helpful to me. I've tried journaling before
3:50
Speaker 2: and it just doesn't do anything for me.
3:53
Speaker 1: Yeahere is opposite for you, I mean, and again, like
3:56
Speaker 1: Kate was saying, it's it's whatever works for you. And
3:59
Speaker 1: so a lot of what we'll talk about today is
4:01
Speaker 1: the campus resources that are available to you, but just
4:05
Speaker 1: know that those are not the only options, and we
4:07
Speaker 1: also have some around just the slow community as well
4:10
Speaker 1: as different ways that you can work individually.
4:13
Speaker 2: Now that we've shared about ourselves, let's hear from Andrea Lawson,
4:16
Speaker 2: the director of cal Poly Counseling Services, on how to
4:19
Speaker 2: navigate the counseling center and all of the different resources
4:22
Speaker 2: that they offer.
4:25
Speaker 3: My name is Andrew Lawson, I usually her pronouns, and
4:31
Speaker 3: I am the director of Counseling Services here. I'm a
4:34
Speaker 3: licensed clinical social worker, and I've been in college mental
4:37
Speaker 3: health since two thousand and six, and so it's been
4:40
Speaker 3: a minute. So I've been at several college counseling centers
4:43
Speaker 3: at the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin, and
4:46
Speaker 3: out here at cal Poly. I've been here for almost
4:48
Speaker 3: four years, so it's been great to be a part
4:50
Speaker 3: of this campus community and to be able to provide
4:53
Speaker 3: high quality, responsive mental health treatment and support for students
4:57
Speaker 3: ongoing as well as when they're in crisis.
5:00
Speaker 1: I wanted to start our conversation with Andrea have a
5:03
Speaker 1: little conversation about stigma, because, especially on a college campus
5:08
Speaker 1: with a bunch of young adults, mental health is this
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Speaker 1: kind of hush hush taboo topic, or at least it
5:14
Speaker 1: has been for a while, and just kind of what
5:18
Speaker 1: that means for a student going in and trying to
5:21
Speaker 1: seek help.
5:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, totally. So we've definitely come a long way. But
5:26
Speaker 2: at the same time, I feel like when someone says, oh,
5:29
Speaker 2: I'm in therapy, there's immediate, like, I don't know, flashing
5:34
Speaker 2: lights in your head, like, oh, why is that person
5:36
Speaker 2: choosing to do that?
5:38
Speaker 1: Right?
5:38
Speaker 2: And you have to kind of explain yourself. So, yeah,
5:42
Speaker 2: there is definitely a stigma there, and so it was
5:45
Speaker 2: really interesting to hear from Andrea what the trends were.
5:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, stigma is a really important topic to address when
5:52
Speaker 3: we're talking about mental health, and basically, stigma is people
5:56
Speaker 3: really feeling maybe badly about mental health or worried that
5:59
Speaker 3: people we'll think differently about them if they talk about
6:02
Speaker 3: depression or anxiety or the other symptoms that they're experiencing.
6:05
Speaker 3: And stigma can get in the way of people accessing
6:08
Speaker 3: mental health care as well. And so one of the
6:11
Speaker 3: things that we actually know from our data is that
6:13
Speaker 3: stigma is reducing, So overall, stigma is less and less
6:16
Speaker 3: over time. That means that there's more and more acceptance
6:20
Speaker 3: of talking about mental health or other concerns like that
6:23
Speaker 3: in our campus culture in particular, and this is true
6:26
Speaker 3: across all the campuses that I've been a part of,
6:29
Speaker 3: and really I think in society in general right now,
6:31
Speaker 3: there's much more acceptance of and discussion of anxiety or
6:36
Speaker 3: depression or other mental health concerns, and so it's been
6:39
Speaker 3: a really nice trajectory to see. At the same time,
6:42
Speaker 3: there are some families or communities or individuals where that
6:45
Speaker 3: stigma is still really high, where maybe your parents don't
6:48
Speaker 3: believe in mental health, or maybe it's not really accepted
6:51
Speaker 3: to go to therapy in your communities and So one
6:53
Speaker 3: of the things that we're doing is providing different types
6:57
Speaker 3: of access to support here. So we do mental health
7:00
Speaker 3: check ins at the Black Academic Excellent Center and at
7:03
Speaker 3: the Multicultural Centers and some of the other cultural centers
7:07
Speaker 3: on campus, so that students don't have to come to
7:09
Speaker 3: therapy and have an actual clinical visit with us to
7:12
Speaker 3: be able to get support and help. And then we're
7:15
Speaker 3: also really trying to contextualize what we're doing in a
7:17
Speaker 3: culturally responsive way for students across all identities, to say,
7:21
Speaker 3: what's the way that you need support and how can
7:23
Speaker 3: we be there for you in that way? And for
7:25
Speaker 3: some folks it is coming in for therapy, and for
7:28
Speaker 3: others it might be engaging with our app that's called
7:31
Speaker 3: well Track Boost where they can do cognitive behavioral sort
7:34
Speaker 3: of interventions on their own, or do a meditation through
7:37
Speaker 3: that app, or maybe it's dropping into let's Talk, which
7:40
Speaker 3: is a more informal conversation with a counselor that we
7:43
Speaker 3: do virtually on Wednesdays and Thursdays. So we're really trying
7:46
Speaker 3: to say, like, yes, stigma is reducing and there's more
7:50
Speaker 3: opportunity to connect clinically with somebody, but there's also a
7:54
Speaker 3: lot of ways to get support and help and be
7:56
Speaker 3: able to talk more about mental health with your peers,
7:59
Speaker 3: with your family, or with a therapist.
8:02
Speaker 2: So, after we learned about the trends with mental health stigma,
8:05
Speaker 2: we talked to Andrea about where to start if you
8:09
Speaker 2: want to either seek on campus or off campus resources.
8:13
Speaker 2: She just shared so much about what's offered in the
8:17
Speaker 2: slow area.
8:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we were also just especially curious about how
8:22
Speaker 1: to start and what that looks like and where students
8:25
Speaker 1: should go, and she kind of helped us navigate that.
8:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, there are so many different components if you're seeking
8:32
Speaker 2: help outside of counseling services at like on campus, such
8:36
Speaker 2: as like copays and insurance and all of that. So
8:39
Speaker 2: she really broke that down.
8:40
Speaker 3: So on our website, we have a page that's dedicated
8:43
Speaker 3: to referral information, So it talks about what to think
8:47
Speaker 3: about when you're looking for a therapist, if you have
8:50
Speaker 3: certain types of insurance, how to navigate those questions to
8:53
Speaker 3: ask about coverage and copays and deductibles and all of that,
8:56
Speaker 3: who's in network versus out of network, and so it
8:59
Speaker 3: kind of gives you some guidelines or a blueprint for
9:02
Speaker 3: thinking about some of those things and asking some of
9:04
Speaker 3: those questions, and then we have it linked to Psychology Today,
9:08
Speaker 3: which has a therapist finder in it, and so you
9:10
Speaker 3: can search within that for either the topic of what
9:12
Speaker 3: you're concerned about, or the type of insurance that they take,
9:16
Speaker 3: or identity factors of that provider, or lots of other aspects,
9:21
Speaker 3: and so then it'll pull up for you providers that
9:24
Speaker 3: fit your parameters, and then you can reach out to
9:26
Speaker 3: those people to talk about what an intake looks like
9:29
Speaker 3: or how to get connected with them. A lot of
9:32
Speaker 3: therapists in town will do a free consultation with you
9:35
Speaker 3: for fifteen minutes to just get to know you a
9:37
Speaker 3: little bit and see if it's a good fit or not.
9:39
Speaker 3: But some of them will kind of assign you directly
9:41
Speaker 3: to an intake and then they'll either charge your insurance
9:44
Speaker 3: for it, or you can pay out of pocket for
9:46
Speaker 3: it and then be reimbursed if you have insurance at
9:48
Speaker 3: least in part, or you can pay out of pocket
9:51
Speaker 3: for those counseling sessions. There's a lot of option in
9:55
Speaker 3: the community, so there's a lot of different types of people,
9:58
Speaker 3: a lot of different contexts, and there's also some low
10:01
Speaker 3: cost options as well, So if paying for therapy at
10:03
Speaker 3: all is outside of what you're able to do, there
10:06
Speaker 3: is on campus there's another clinic that's run out of
10:09
Speaker 3: the master's program and so they have therapists and training
10:12
Speaker 3: who are supervised by licensed providers who are providing services,
10:16
Speaker 3: and they have a sliding scale fee that goes, I
10:18
Speaker 3: believe down to zero, so it can be very affordable
10:21
Speaker 3: to go there, and they do that based on your
10:23
Speaker 3: family income or what resources you have available to you,
10:26
Speaker 3: and so they provide ongoing treatment there for a range
10:31
Speaker 3: of concerns. And then there's also as a part of
10:34
Speaker 3: Transitions Mental Health Association in town, they have a brief
10:37
Speaker 3: therapy clinic that's available at no charge as well, so
10:40
Speaker 3: they typically will see people for ten to twelve sessions,
10:43
Speaker 3: and they have a really cool array of student providers
10:48
Speaker 3: as well as therapists that are licensed that are overseeing
10:50
Speaker 3: their work. So there's a lot of option at a
10:54
Speaker 3: range of cost points. The main difference between community providers
10:59
Speaker 3: and US is that you have already paid your student
11:01
Speaker 3: health fee and so there's no additional cost to come
11:04
Speaker 3: to see a therapist here at Counseling Services.
11:06
Speaker 1: If you are choosing to start your mental health experience
11:10
Speaker 1: here on campus, then you're in luck because there is
11:13
Speaker 1: an abundance of different therapy modalities available for you, and
11:18
Speaker 1: Andrew really breaks that down here.
11:20
Speaker 3: So we provide brief individual therapy as well as couple
11:24
Speaker 3: in partner therapy and group therapy through our clinical services.
11:28
Speaker 3: So the way that students connect with that is by
11:31
Speaker 3: calling us to schedule a brief screening appointment. So this
11:34
Speaker 3: is just a fifteen minute phone conversation with one of
11:37
Speaker 3: our counseling providers to talk about what's going on, how
11:40
Speaker 3: it's impacting you, and then what services can best support you.
11:43
Speaker 3: And then that counselor will refer the student to individual
11:46
Speaker 3: therapy or to a group, or to a workshop or
11:48
Speaker 3: other services like that. So all of these appointments are
11:51
Speaker 3: scheduled and they happen Monday through Friday, eight to five generally,
11:56
Speaker 3: and we don't have session limits here, so it's not
11:59
Speaker 3: like you can only be seen for three sessions or
12:00
Speaker 3: five sessions. But we try to respond to what the
12:04
Speaker 3: student's needs are, what their clinical needs are, as well
12:06
Speaker 3: as what their resourcing is and if it's not feasible
12:09
Speaker 3: for them to get ongoing care. Then what we want
12:11
Speaker 3: to do is take a look at, Okay, how can
12:13
Speaker 3: we keep them here and support them in their mental
12:15
Speaker 3: health needs within the scope of what we're providing. So,
12:18
Speaker 3: just like on the health services side of campus health
12:20
Speaker 3: and well Being, you're not going to go there for
12:22
Speaker 3: cancer treatments or for brain surgery, right, You're going to
12:25
Speaker 3: go there if you sprain your ankle, or if you
12:27
Speaker 3: need a wound dressed or other things like that. And
12:31
Speaker 3: so we do have a limited scope of what we're
12:32
Speaker 3: able to provide, but our hope is that every student
12:35
Speaker 3: can have at least one service from us, whether it's
12:37
Speaker 3: a consultation or an outreach presentation or drop into let's
12:41
Speaker 3: talk or ongoing individual therapy for as long as they
12:43
Speaker 3: need it here.
12:44
Speaker 2: So I've used these formal services that she talks about,
12:48
Speaker 2: and I have really enjoyed my experience so far. That
12:51
Speaker 2: is just what personally works for me. I knew that
12:55
Speaker 2: I didn't want anything pretty casual because I wanted a
12:59
Speaker 2: solid foundation with my therapist and I wanted them to
13:02
Speaker 2: get to know me as a person and not have
13:05
Speaker 2: like just a drop in opportunity. But I mean, there
13:08
Speaker 2: are so many more casual ways to partake in counseling
13:13
Speaker 2: services at cal Poly.
13:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know. I was particularly curious about the option
13:19
Speaker 1: of a drop in like therapy session called let's Talk,
13:24
Speaker 1: and Andrea really breaks that down in a second here
13:27
Speaker 1: for us, But that was just something that I didn't
13:29
Speaker 1: know students even had available to them to just hop
13:33
Speaker 1: on a quick zoom meeting or stop by in person
13:37
Speaker 1: and just sit down for a brief chat.
13:39
Speaker 2: And those let's talk drop ins are actually one on one,
13:43
Speaker 2: so it is a private experience. They do have group
13:45
Speaker 2: services that are also offered, but if you do want
13:49
Speaker 2: a private talk, that is definitely an option for you.
13:52
Speaker 3: We also have more informal services or what we call
13:54
Speaker 3: drop in services, and that's things like let's talk that
13:57
Speaker 3: happen virtually. We have medication for mental health on Thursday
14:01
Speaker 3: afternoons on the front lawn. We have an ADHD support
14:04
Speaker 3: group that's a drop in style. On Friday afternoons, we
14:07
Speaker 3: have Roots Group, which is for BIPOC students to connect
14:10
Speaker 3: with other BIPOX students. That's a drop in space that
14:13
Speaker 3: sometimes is virtual and sometimes is in person depending on
14:15
Speaker 3: the week. And then we have lots of other ways
14:18
Speaker 3: that we're connecting with different departments on campus as well
14:21
Speaker 3: to do presentations or to just have more informal conversations
14:25
Speaker 3: with students. So it's not like you go to see
14:28
Speaker 3: the scary therapist, but you're going to see Shauna, or
14:30
Speaker 3: you're going to see Sheila, or you're going to see Conrad.
14:33
Speaker 3: So all these people are a part of the milieu
14:36
Speaker 3: of support for students. One of the cool things that
14:39
Speaker 3: we've started in the last couple of years as a
14:40
Speaker 3: webinar series, So in November and in May we have
14:44
Speaker 3: a Friday webinar every Friday that has a different topic.
14:48
Speaker 3: So this year it's mental health in You, so kind
14:51
Speaker 3: of basically understanding what does mental health mean for me
14:54
Speaker 3: with the identities I hold in the context that I have,
14:56
Speaker 3: and what can I do to support myself on it.
14:58
Speaker 3: We also have one about body image, and then we
15:00
Speaker 3: have one in partnership with Safer to talk about sexual
15:04
Speaker 3: health and sexual assault and how we can have healthy,
15:07
Speaker 3: safe sexual relationships with other people. And so we're really
15:10
Speaker 3: excited about that collaboration in particular, but really trying to say, Okay,
15:15
Speaker 3: not everybody's going to come here, how do we help
15:17
Speaker 3: get our message out and have students feel.
15:19
Speaker 2: Supported beyond scheduled appointments. They also have crisis in urgent
15:23
Speaker 2: support services, so if you are facing something right in
15:26
Speaker 2: the moment, they are able to help you out.
15:28
Speaker 3: And then the last way that we support students is
15:30
Speaker 3: through our crisis and Urgent support services. So each day
15:34
Speaker 3: from eight to five, students can come to Counseling Services,
15:37
Speaker 3: which is here in Building twenty seven at the Health Center,
15:40
Speaker 3: and they can say I'm in crisis, I need to
15:42
Speaker 3: talk to somebody, and we'll work them in to be
15:44
Speaker 3: seen within an hour or two, depending on what our
15:47
Speaker 3: availability is. And then after hours, we have a crisis
15:51
Speaker 3: line that's available twenty four to seven, so if it's
15:53
Speaker 3: two in the morning and you're having a panic attack,
15:55
Speaker 3: you can call and talk with a clinician about what's
15:58
Speaker 3: going on. They'll safety plan with you and they'll help
16:00
Speaker 3: you make a plan for those next steps after that.
16:02
Speaker 3: So that is available anytime that you need it, and
16:06
Speaker 3: there's no limit on how much you could use that.
16:08
Speaker 3: We really want to be there to support students regardless
16:11
Speaker 3: of what's going on.
16:12
Speaker 1: If you are looking to schedule an appointment with Health
16:16
Speaker 1: and Counseling Services, you are easily able to do so,
16:19
Speaker 1: and ANGO will kind of explain that process for you
16:22
Speaker 1: in case you are a little nervous about how that.
16:25
Speaker 3: Works in general, Like I was saying, that first step
16:28
Speaker 3: is to call us to schedule a brief screening appointment,
16:31
Speaker 3: and so we will your our front desk folks will
16:34
Speaker 3: talk with you about your availability, and typically we're able
16:36
Speaker 3: to schedule that same day or next day, depending on
16:39
Speaker 3: your schedule and when you have class and when you're
16:41
Speaker 3: available to meet with us. And so we'll schedule that
16:45
Speaker 3: fifteen minute phone call and then our clinician will call
16:48
Speaker 3: you so you don't have to be here, you don't
16:50
Speaker 3: have to show up in our space, and we really
16:52
Speaker 3: want to understand your story, what your context is, so
16:55
Speaker 3: that we can respond appropriately to that. Once you're referred
16:58
Speaker 3: for individual therapy here, then you'll get to choose whether
17:01
Speaker 3: it's in person or virtual. So right now we have
17:04
Speaker 3: most of our therapists do hybrid schedules, partly because we
17:07
Speaker 3: don't have enough space for all of them to have
17:09
Speaker 3: an office every day. Some days they're here on site
17:11
Speaker 3: and some days they're virtual. And so as a student,
17:14
Speaker 3: you'll be asked whether which you and you prefer whether
17:17
Speaker 3: in person or virtual, but you may need to be
17:19
Speaker 3: a little bit flexible on the modality. You know, in
17:22
Speaker 3: case your provider calls in sick, they may be able
17:24
Speaker 3: to do a virtual appointment rather than in person. Or
17:27
Speaker 3: the same flexibility is available for you too, So if
17:29
Speaker 3: you have a cold but you still want to meet
17:31
Speaker 3: with your therapists, you can say, hey, can we meet
17:33
Speaker 3: via zoom or phone instead and we can make that adjustment.
17:36
Speaker 3: So it's one of the benefits of the last four
17:39
Speaker 3: years through COVID and through all of that is that
17:42
Speaker 3: we've really grown those muscles and being able to provide
17:46
Speaker 3: virtual services and it's really been shown to be just
17:49
Speaker 3: as effective as in person services.
17:51
Speaker 2: How Polit, counseling services understands that it can be really
17:54
Speaker 2: difficult to take that first step and make that initial
17:57
Speaker 2: call to schedule your first appointment. There are plenty of
18:00
Speaker 2: ways to get in touch with the office and there
18:03
Speaker 2: are so many people there that genuinely want to help you.
18:06
Speaker 2: As Andrea emphasized throughout the interview, that was really really
18:10
Speaker 2: cool to see, Like she just kept on repeating how
18:13
Speaker 2: much the staff cares for the students truly.
18:16
Speaker 1: And she herself is very involved. She's actually the one
18:20
Speaker 1: who reads the emails that are sent to health services,
18:25
Speaker 1: so that you'll get to talk one on one with
18:27
Speaker 1: Andrea potentially, and.
18:29
Speaker 2: She's the absolute sweetest. Yes, So it makes life all
18:31
Speaker 2: the more easy.
18:32
Speaker 3: I think especially students now don't call anybody. Well you know,
18:36
Speaker 3: they don't call or talk to anybody on the phone,
18:38
Speaker 3: and so talking on the phone feels like maybe a
18:40
Speaker 3: new thing or something that you don't do regularly, and
18:42
Speaker 3: so that can feel even more difficult to get over
18:46
Speaker 3: that hump. But I would say, you know, we have
18:48
Speaker 3: a team of people who are here and ready to
18:50
Speaker 3: help you, and so by calling, you are tapping into
18:53
Speaker 3: those resources, and they're gonna be responsive to that. They'll say, hey,
18:57
Speaker 3: I'm so glad you called. Here are the options. This
18:59
Speaker 3: is when you can get scheduled or sounds like you
19:02
Speaker 3: need to talk to somebody today, come on in. We've
19:04
Speaker 3: got something available right now. So we really are a
19:07
Speaker 3: team that's invested in supporting students and helping to get
19:10
Speaker 3: them where they need to be. If calling just feels
19:13
Speaker 3: like way too far out of your comfort zone, you
19:16
Speaker 3: can also email us. So I'm the one who answers
19:18
Speaker 3: the counseling atcoupoly dot eu email address, But sometimes just
19:22
Speaker 3: having a little more information or making that initial contact
19:25
Speaker 3: can really be helpful. One thing I'll just add is
19:27
Speaker 3: that we have twenty two therapists on staff right now,
19:30
Speaker 3: which is impressive. Yeah, thank you, And we've hired a
19:34
Speaker 3: bunch in the last five years and so we've been
19:36
Speaker 3: able to really expand our available availability and services. So
19:41
Speaker 3: right now, like I said, you can get in for
19:42
Speaker 3: that screening typically same day or next day, and then
19:45
Speaker 3: we have intakes available within the same week right now
19:48
Speaker 3: as well. So I think sometimes there is this sense
19:52
Speaker 3: or maybe a fear that you won't be able to
19:54
Speaker 3: get in or that there's no space, and I just
19:56
Speaker 3: want to say, right now, that's not true. So we
19:58
Speaker 3: do have that availability and are here to support you,
20:01
Speaker 3: and we're still going to help you get to that
20:03
Speaker 3: right resource for you, whether that's with us or someone else.
20:07
Speaker 1: So we kind of wanted to know a little bit
20:09
Speaker 1: more about the context of maybe why people are coming
20:12
Speaker 1: to counseling services, what is most affecting us college students,
20:18
Speaker 1: and how can we find the help that we need.
20:21
Speaker 1: So Andrew actually shared quite a few important statistics with us,
20:26
Speaker 1: specifically about anxiety and depression. But it really kind of
20:30
Speaker 1: put into perspective what we as college students are facing.
20:33
Speaker 3: In twenty sixteen, twenty four percent of students responded that
20:37
Speaker 3: they were moderate or severely depressed according to the PHQ,
20:43
Speaker 3: which is one of the clinical measures of depression. In
20:46
Speaker 3: twenty twenty, that went up to forty four percent. Forty
20:49
Speaker 3: four percent of students screened positive for depression and that
20:51
Speaker 3: moderate to severe category. Then this fall it's actually dropped
20:55
Speaker 3: down to thirty four percent, and so we're really glad
20:58
Speaker 3: to see that and also is such an indicator of
21:01
Speaker 3: that trend. Right, So imagine back to where you were
21:04
Speaker 3: in the fall of twenty twenty and what you're experiencing
21:07
Speaker 3: and what context you had. Like here at cal Poly,
21:09
Speaker 3: all the classes were virtual. There are very few people
21:12
Speaker 3: on campus. It was also when I started here, so
21:14
Speaker 3: it was a very funny time to get to know
21:16
Speaker 3: a new campus, a new community. But it's interesting to
21:21
Speaker 3: be able to look historically at that data and to
21:23
Speaker 3: see both improvement but also recognize that a third of
21:27
Speaker 3: our students are screening positive for depression, and so that
21:30
Speaker 3: means that there's a lot of students who could benefit
21:33
Speaker 3: from conversations about emotional well being and around connecting with
21:38
Speaker 3: other people and maybe not feeling quite so alone in
21:40
Speaker 3: those symptoms that they're experiencing and know that we are
21:43
Speaker 3: here to support you in that. But also there's so
21:46
Speaker 3: many people across campus that can also help invest in
21:50
Speaker 3: your mental health. So one of the things we're really
21:52
Speaker 3: focused on is a holistic approach to mental health, recognizing
21:56
Speaker 3: that when you engage in the Safer Leadership training or
21:59
Speaker 3: when you go to a student club or organization you
22:02
Speaker 3: take on a leadership role there, that you're investing in
22:05
Speaker 3: your mental health by engaging in those behaviors in the
22:09
Speaker 3: same way that you might be if you're coming here
22:11
Speaker 3: for therapy. And so we're not the only answer to
22:14
Speaker 3: mental health or well being or things like that. There's
22:16
Speaker 3: so many opportunities to support one another in that as students,
22:20
Speaker 3: as well as to connect with programs and services and
22:23
Speaker 3: trainings that are available to you here at cal Poly.
22:25
Speaker 3: In the last few years, anxiety has actually taken over
22:28
Speaker 3: depression as a more prevalent concern, and so in that
22:32
Speaker 3: same study it was thirty four percent and twenty twenty
22:36
Speaker 3: of students were screen positive for anxiety, and now that's
22:40
Speaker 3: down to thirty two percent, so we'll take a little
22:42
Speaker 3: bit of improvement. But again, about a third of students
22:45
Speaker 3: are experiencing anxiety, and so we hear that more often
22:48
Speaker 3: as a reason for coming into services with us. We
22:53
Speaker 3: also can look at national data trends around that, so
22:56
Speaker 3: it's not just cal Poly students, but the Center for
22:59
Speaker 3: Collegiate Mental Health Health does aggregate data for all students
23:03
Speaker 3: across the country who are engaged in clinical services at
23:06
Speaker 3: their counseling center like this, and they've seen that same
23:09
Speaker 3: trend over time that anxiety has overtaken depression. However, since
23:14
Speaker 3: the maybe two thousand and eight twenty ten when they
23:17
Speaker 3: started collecting data, it's been a steady increase over time
23:20
Speaker 3: in many of the symptoms, and finally we're actually seeing
23:23
Speaker 3: a leveling off of depression and anxiety, so it's no
23:26
Speaker 3: longer going up, but it's still very present. And this
23:29
Speaker 3: kind of ties back into what we were saying earlier
23:31
Speaker 3: about stigma that because stigma is reducing, people feel more
23:35
Speaker 3: comfortable maybe identifying with having depression or identifying other mental
23:39
Speaker 3: health concerns and seeking out help for it. So the
23:42
Speaker 3: increase in reporting and in utilization is not necessarily a
23:46
Speaker 3: bad thing or an indicator of crisis. It's an indicator
23:49
Speaker 3: that people are acknowledging what their experiences and reaching out
23:53
Speaker 3: for help and support around that.
24:00
Speaker 2: So we are so grateful for this interview in this
24:02
Speaker 2: time with Andrew because we really got to understand that
24:05
Speaker 2: there is a pretty big team of therapists on campus
24:10
Speaker 2: ready to help you.
24:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they are there for different ways of helping
24:15
Speaker 1: you too, Like there are a ton of different services
24:18
Speaker 1: that they provide. Again, there's group, there's individual, there's to
24:22
Speaker 1: drop in, there's crisis, there's anything that you could ever
24:25
Speaker 1: need for free here on campus, which is super super crucial,
24:31
Speaker 1: especially for US college students.
24:33
Speaker 2: Exactly, you're already paying your health services payment in your dues,
24:37
Speaker 2: so I mean, why not just.
24:38
Speaker 1: Give it a try.
24:39
Speaker 2: So there are actually psychiatric services on campus as well.
24:43
Speaker 2: And what's really cool is if you're already seeing a
24:46
Speaker 2: psychiatrist from home, you can have your medication sent to
24:50
Speaker 2: the health center so you could pick it up there.
24:53
Speaker 2: But then also if you are looking to start medication,
24:56
Speaker 2: you can get in contact with a psychiatrist on campus,
25:00
Speaker 2: usually through a therapist referral, but you can get started
25:03
Speaker 2: on medication and pick it up either on campus or
25:06
Speaker 2: in a pharmacy near you.
25:08
Speaker 1: And beyond that, there is also some more casual opportunities
25:12
Speaker 1: to promote wellness here on campus. For instance, I'm sure
25:16
Speaker 1: many of you have seen the therapy dogs that go
25:19
Speaker 1: to dexter or even goat yoga. Mm hm.
25:23
Speaker 2: I can never get a spot and go yoa.
25:24
Speaker 1: I know, I never know it's happening until I see it,
25:28
Speaker 1: and I'm like, wow, I wish, I wish I was
25:30
Speaker 1: doing goat yoga right now.
25:32
Speaker 2: I actually really like the yoga at the rec center
25:35
Speaker 2: because I mean, like we're saying, like you're already paying
25:38
Speaker 2: for it in your dues, so might as well just
25:41
Speaker 2: take yoga classes that would cost hundreds of dollars if
25:44
Speaker 2: you were doing it from an outside studio. Like we've
25:47
Speaker 2: emphasized throughout this episode, there are so many unique opportunities
25:51
Speaker 2: for pretty much everyone because everyone has their own way
25:54
Speaker 2: of navigating their own mental health.
25:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, and something that also is super super beneficial is
26:01
Speaker 1: having a good cry every once in a while, like
26:04
Speaker 1: just kind of it feels like such a detox to
26:07
Speaker 1: just let it out, have your moment, you know, let
26:10
Speaker 1: it all go, and then compose yourself and continue continue slaying. Honestly,
26:16
Speaker 1: that's so true.
26:18
Speaker 2: My friend told me recently something that is gonna stick
26:23
Speaker 2: with me forever. She was like, you have to flop
26:25
Speaker 2: in order to slay, And I feel like shout out
26:29
Speaker 2: to Bianca on that one. That just really suits you,
26:33
Speaker 2: know what.
26:35
Speaker 1: Not that not that I'm saying your mental health is
26:37
Speaker 1: a flop.
26:37
Speaker 3: No, not at all.
26:39
Speaker 2: But you could have a flop era though.
26:40
Speaker 1: That's totally fine. Why not have your flop er to
26:44
Speaker 1: get to your sleigh era.
26:45
Speaker 2: Exactly, and counseling services is there to help you get there,
26:49
Speaker 2: but you can also do it.
26:50
Speaker 1: On your own as well.
26:50
Speaker 2: Whatever works for you.
26:52
Speaker 1: Well, that's all the time we have for today. One
26:55
Speaker 1: last piece of advice. It is always, always, always okay
26:58
Speaker 1: to take a mental health day and focus on your
27:00
Speaker 1: well being.
27:01
Speaker 2: Anyways, we'll be back with more tips and tricks next
27:03
Speaker 2: time on CP one on one Learn by listening. You
27:05
Speaker 2: can find us on any preferred streaming platform for the
27:08
Speaker 2: next episode.
27:09
Speaker 1: And to keep up to date with CP one on
27:10
Speaker 1: one and all KCPR podcasts, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Spotify, TikTok,
27:16
Speaker 1: or Facebook at KCPR nine one three or check.
27:19
Speaker 2: Us out on kcpr dot org. Slash Podcast signing off,
27:22
Speaker 2: I'm Kate Lopensky.
27:23
Speaker 1: And I'm Emma Hughes. Thanks for keeping up with all
27:26
Speaker 1: things cal poly.