Wellness Center letting students fall through the cracks

Imagine paying tens of thousands of dollars to attend a school whose counseling center is a glorified directory

Maeve Drury / Contributer / The USD Vista

When I was a freshman at USD, I was diagnosed with a chronic disease with no cure and minimal treatment options. The shock and sorrow of this made it hard to manage my new diagnosis with my academics. I was already dealing with anxiety and depression and the transition to college was really difficult. I knew I needed help to get through this. 

After speaking with my academic advisor, they directed me to meet with one of the Deans of Students. I wanted to find a way to get support and continue moving forward in my college career.

The dean I spoke to was kind, but suggested I take a leave of absence. Although I was having difficulties, I didn’t want to take such a drastic measure just yet; it felt like giving up prematurely. The dean then scheduled an appointment for me at the counseling center, which felt like a step in the right direction. I was hopeful that my counselor and I could come up with strategies to balance my mental and physical health with my academics. 

When I arrived for my appointment, I checked in with the front desk and was then led back to a private room where I could speak with the counselor. In tears, I shared my predicament and fears with this person. I recalled to them sitting in the UCSD medical center and the nurse holding my hand when they told me that while there was not much that could be done right now, my illness was manageable, and to remain optimistic. While I tried to follow that advice, I was 3,000 miles away from home and completely and utterly alone. I was terrified of what this meant for my health and future, I didn’t know what my quality of life would look like, if I would be inhibited from doing the things I loved. I was deeply grieving. I was newly 18 years old, and suddenly my bright future was murky. 

The counselor listened to me quietly, and then suggested I see an off-campus therapist. I suddenly felt very exposed and vulnerable in my situation. I had extensively shared intimate personal things with that individual. I felt betrayed, invalidated, and even more alone in a very isolating experience. It felt like the person who was supposed to support me gave up on helping me, before even trying to understand the gravity of my situation. The appointment was probably 15-minutes in total. 

I was stunned. I never had an experience like that be so impersonal. The last thing I expected when seeing a counselor was to have them tell me to go see a different counselor. I didn’t have a car, nor could I find a local provider who took my out-of-state HMO health insurance. An off-campus psychologist was not an option for me. I began to wonder what other students’ experiences were like, which led me to write this article. If I slipped through the cracks of USD’s mental health resources, who else has? And what if it was a person in dire need of help? I know from other students that my experience is not unique.

I’ve had friends describe to me similar meetings which left them feeling worse, rather than feeling better after speaking with a USD counselor. There is a common theme when someone goes to the counseling center: they are told to see another counselor in private practice. So, instead of actually providing support or resources for students, they provide them with a list of other therapists – therapists which insurance may not cover. And what about students with USD’s health insurance? Imagine paying over 1,000 dollars to see a physician who will tell you to go see another physician, outside of your network. Actually, try imagining paying tens of thousands of dollars to attend a school whose counseling center is a glorified directory.  

My own experience as well as others’ testimonies, has led me to truly question whether or not the USD Counseling Center is equipped to support their students. There is no point in the middleman, either provide treatment or stop advertising services which are clearly not offered to multitudes of students.

Unfortunately, that experience wasn’t my first negative one with the Counseling Center. I went during my second or third week of school my freshman year and I met with similar disinterest from the counselor I saw, who also recommended I see a counselor off-campus in private practice, disregarding I needed support right then, at that moment. I thought that the counselor must have been tired, or had an off day, and wrote it off as an isolated incident.

On the flip side, though, it isn’t all bad. From my personal experience and from the experiences of other students I’ve spoken to, the most helpful individuals at the Counseling Center were interns and graduate students getting clinical hours. When I did my intake with the DLDRC, I met with an intern at the center. She spent an hour with me, gave me a safe space to cry about my homesickness and general fears with starting college, and gave me tools to support myself. She scheduled a meeting with me that very next week. I met with her every week from then until the end of the semester when her internship ended. Each session made me a better, more adapted person, and when we had to say goodbye before Christmas break, we both cried. The irony was not lost on me that the individual with the least amount of experience in the center was actually the most helpful.

That is how USD’s counseling center should function. Students should not leave a session feeling worse than when they came in. They should be provided with as much support as they need. I know that they are understaffed and exhausted, but for a campus that claims to be so focused on wellness and mental health it is simply not enough. 

There must either be a change in the narrative or a change in the center. I much prefer the latter. More resources must be allocated to the DLRDC and the Counseling Center, it cannot continue to be a pointless middleman for students, it should be a true resource.