Naturally, it’s quite common for students to suffer from cases such as anxiety over an exam or a crisis in their personal lives entirely outside of the college atmosphere. What many students may not know is that Plymouth State has a program specifically designed to help students in need of counseling or guidance. This program is PSU’s Counseling and Human Relations Center. And, according to the statement on the homepage of their website, “We believe that none of your problems are ‘too small’… if they’re important to you, they’re important to us.” The mission of the Counseling department is to aid the student as best they can in any dilemma they may be experiencing.
As the Center’s Director, Michael L. Fischler said, “The sole purpose of the program is to benefit the students at this University.” According to Fischler, the Counseling Center currently has nine staff members. These employees all have extensive background experience in areas of psychology, social science, and human behavior. Some of them are even professors at the University. But, a student will not have one of his or her professors as a counselor. “Our staff is very diverse in background and I think this really strengthens us,” Fischler said.
The PSU Human Relations Center offers a variety of options in the way a student can obtain counseling and in what direction the counseling should go in. First, the Relations Center offers individual counseling in which the student may meet one-on-one with a counselor to discuss stress, depression, mental health, family issues, school problems or anything else that the student wishes to explore while in session with a counselor.
The Human Relations Center also offers group counseling. The topics in group counseling usually depend on the amount of interest voiced by those wishing to participate. In the past, the Center has held group sessions on subjects such as drug education, stress management, and relationship problems.
The Human Relations Center has a link on their website to what they call an e-Chug (electronic Check-Up to Go.) This brief questionnaire takes about five to ten minutes to complete and gives the student who completes it information on their relationship with alcohol. Then, after determining the significance of their results, the student has the option to schedule an appointment with the Relations Center if he or she feels it to be necessary.
According to Michael Fischler, anxiety and depression are the two most common afflictions in students who visit the counseling center; however, the range of possible ailments is expansive.
“I would definitely recommend it [visiting the counseling center] to anyone here at Plymouth State. They are incredibly helpful and specialize in college students so they see many problems over and over again and know how to handle them,” said student Katie Ahern. Katie has visited the Center herself at a time when she was going through a bout of depression. “I went once a week for two or two and a half months and it helped me more than anyone could know. The first time I went, I was wary of counseling and did not really want to talk to her, I thought, ‘What could she do to help me? She doesn’t even know me.’ After the second or third session I began enjoying it and opened up to her a lot more and actually began to look forward to going,” she said.
In the end, the Counseling Center at PSU offers a wide range of aid for students and their only purpose is to help you and nothing else. The Counseling and Human Relations Center maintains a code of confidentiality with its students who seek counseling. Also, the counseling services are free of charge for PSU students. To schedule an appointment, all a student needs to do is either contact the Center via phone or stopping by their office which is in Plymouth directly across from Hyde Hall. Their website www.Plymouth.edu/counselr/ contains a large amount of introductory information for anyone interested in possibly seeking counseling.