By Madeline Brown
After more than a year of offering virtual counseling sessions , the counseling center now offers both in-person and virtual sessions.
Online sessions for group therapy are available, while in-person sessions with a counselor are made by appointment only.
Miller Folk, interim director of the Trevecca Counseling Center, is looking forward to being able to serve and re-engage with clients who rely on in-person care.
“Some students have not felt comfortable with the online platform, not having a safe confidential space [available] to have [virtual] counseling,” said Folk. “[Some students] did not feel a strong therapeutic connection through the screen, or needed higher levels of support than online counseling could offer.”
The Trevecca Counseling Center employs 3 staff members and 20 counselors, 17 being interns and 3 post-grad volunteers. Last year the center saw 4,309 hours of clients with 250 intake sessions.
According to the Center for Disease Control, “three out of four Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 report poor mental health tied to the pandemic.”
According to Folk, some common trends counselors have seen among their clients are “anxiety, depression, isolation, processing past trauma, academic distress, and needing social support.”
Bethany Maynard is a junior education major who has been going to the Trevecca counseling center for two years, and participated in the virtual sessions last year.
Maynard said the affordability of the center and their flexibility around her schedule has been beneficial for her. The counselors get to know their patients on a personal level, and can help students with big or small problems, she said.
Folk said the goal and place of counseling on a college campus is “to provide a safe therapeutic presence for all students to come and be met exactly where they are. To provide clinical resources, tools, and support to help them engage with life in the ways they desire.”
To set up a counseling appointment go to www.tnu4u.trevecca.edu and chose “services”. Under the services tab choose “Counseling Services” and scroll the bottom for the “Make an Appointment” button.
