The University Counseling Services’ offices are right there in Payson Smith Hall on the Portland Campus and Upton Hall in Gorham. The program is funded in part by the student health fee, and all students who pay the fee are entitled to 12 counseling sessions per semester. Yet a shroud of mystery seems to surround the program, and many students never take advantage of the services offered.
“The beauty of being on a college campus is that you never have to face anything alone,” said Paul Dexter, LCSW. Dexter is one of five full-time staff members at University Counseling Services, along with three psychologists and one licensed clinical counselor. It’s the largest team the 30-year-old program has ever had.
Dexter, who has been at USM since 1998, does substance abuse prevention work with Gorham Student Life and Athletics, as well as helping departments construct policies regarding alcohol and substance abuse. He also sees up to 12 students a week for private counseling.
“It’s important for students to understand that it takes more courage to ask for help than to try and deal with problems by themselves,” Dexter said. “The sooner someone seeks support, the sooner they can get out of the hole and start enjoying the college experience.”
Dexter, along with many others at University Counseling Services, believes that there is a stigma around asking for help that keeps many students from taking advantage of the service. But it doesn’t take a crippling psychological problem to be in a position to benefit from counseling.
“Most of what I see are people needing to work through some relationship issue,” said Ira Hymoff, Ph.D., senior clinical psychologist, who has been with the program since it began in 1972. “It may be with a partner, a child, or a parent. Relationship issues are extremely common, and it can really help to work through them in counseling.”
Carol Sadler, staff counselor, said that issues around stress and academic pressure bring many students to her. “The biggest thing I treat are depression and anxiety,” Sadler said. “Many students tend to come for counseling only when they’re in crisis, but I believe students can learn about themselves and make positive changes without necessarily being in crisis.”
The concept of dealing with problems before they explode is central to University Counseling Services’ philosophy. Many members of the staff do outreach work on campus, consulting when departments have conflicts, mediating student-teacher problems, and offering student workshops on personal growth and coping skills.
“We try to help students connect with the most appropriate level of intervention,” said Dexter. “It depends on several factors, including stage of readiness to look at their behavior.”
Confidentiality is a prime concern of many students when considering on-campus counseling. Will this go on my record? Is my counselor going to discuss me with anyone else?
“We’re very confidential here-it’s our first priority,” said Kristine Bertini, director of University Counseling Services. “We’re always looking at issues of ethics and confidentiality and how to best serve students.” Assuring complete privacy for students involves strict adherence to ethics policies surrounding discussion of patient matters and confidentiality of files.
“Kids need to feel safe here,” agreed Hymoff. “They need to know that counseling is separate from their education.”
Another interesting aspect of University Counseling Services is its role as a teaching facility, taking in four or five students a year from the graduate level and offering them a chance to work with college students. Typically the students come from a Ph.D. psychology program or a master’s program in counseling or social work. The students are carefully selected for their ability to contribute to students and campus life.
“We get people who have some serious hands-on experience before coming here,” said Hymoff. “They are carefully selected and supervised. It gives us a bigger selection of people for students to see.”
The students work with guidance from one of the staff psychologists in three-way counseling sessions with students while doing their internship.
“Most patients are fine with it,” said Hymoff. “We ask them first to make sure it’s alright with them.”
University Counseling Services also offers programs for faculty and staff. The Employee Assistance Program is a brief treatment program that provides consultation for interdepartmental conflicts, grievance management, and up to six office visits a year for individual counseling.
“It’s a wonderful benefit for employees,” said Bertini.
Hymoff said that the busiest times of year for University Counseling Services are November and March, when people are feeling the crunch of mid-semester stress, compounded by holidays and vacations. Yet they make sure that students who need to be seen get an appointment as soon as possible.
“We get people right in. We make it a priority,” said Bertini. “It’s important for students to not feel alone, to know that they have this resource on campus.”
University Counseling Services can be reached at 780-4050 for more information or to request an appointment.