Students at Old Dominion University spend time with a therapy dog. (Photo courtesy Joy Himmel)
Untreated mental health conditions can derail a student’s education at any age by contributing to lower grades, increased absenteeism and possibly a greater chance of dropping out of school altogether. Recognizing the link between mental wellness and student retention, colleges and universities have invested in campus counseling centers for decades; they serve as a primary source of psychological care through services such as individual therapy, crisis intervention and psychiatric support.
But what happens when Gen Z arrives on campus with needs far more complex than the traditional system is prepared to handle?
“I’m sure there’s a lot of cultural, socioeconomic, political and social media factors that contribute to [it], but what we find is that [Gen Z’s] ability to be resilient and having the skills to manage stressful situations is not what it was [for students] in the past,” says Jihad Aziz, director of university counseling at Virginia Commonwealth University and a mental health professional for over 20 years.
“Colleges and universities have had to rethink mental health — not as a counseling center problem to solve, but a university problem,” Aziz adds. “How do we build resilience? How do we help students move toward adulthood?”
Evolving Needs
Aziz describes students who struggle with intense emotions, more severe forms of mental illnesses and an inability to make important decisions as “higher acuity.” He points to interpersonal relationships as one example of Gen Z students’ difficulty with adaptability.
“If there was a relationship breakup before, we could say [to students], ‘You’ll get over it, you’ll find another person, it’s OK,’” Aziz says. “My concern now is that students then jump to, ‘My life is over, and I should end it.’”
Aziz notes that he began noticing an increase in higher-acuity students visiting the VCU counseling center around 2010, and he points to smartphones and social media as potential catalysts. However, the counseling center has also seen a steady increase in the total number of students seeking services over the years, which might be an unexpected boon from those same catalysts.
“Maybe it’s the benefit of social media,” he says. “People feel more comfortable with [therapy] because it’s less stigmatized, because there are lots of things about therapy on the internet.”
Jihad Aziz, director of counseling services at Virginia Commonwealth University (Photo by Jay Paul)
To meet changing student needs, universities have increasingly adopted virtual mental health services. At VCU, TimelyCare helps fill a critical gap by giving students access to on-demand mental health support. Through the telehealth platform, students can schedule therapy appointments, connect with a licensed provider or access crisis support anywhere in the country.
TimelyCare is offered at nearly 500 colleges and universities nationwide, including Virginia Tech, George Mason University, James Madison University, Radford University and across the Virginia Community College System, giving students free, 24/7 access to virtual care.
However, Aziz notes, VCU also provides in-person counseling and support groups, which are just as important today as they were 15 years ago, and the school is expanding peer support through the student-led program Rams in Recovery, which Aziz says is crucial.
“Students are aware of our services, but we also make sure that we have good partnerships with faculty and other individuals, because lots of students don’t come to us first — they go to a peer, they go to somebody in a residence hall, like a resident assistant, or a faculty member, like a professor,” Aziz says.
John Freyer, associate professor at VCUarts and adviser to Rams in Recovery, uses his free-hot-coffee bike to invite conversation about sobriety. (Photo by Jay Paul)
All-Hands Approach
VCU offers Mental Health First Aid and other workshops to help faculty and staff recognize students who may be struggling and connect them with appropriate resources, says Cassie DeSena-Jacobs, an assistant professor in the VCU School of Social Work and director of the school’s mental health initiatives. While the training isn’t mandatory, it has sparked campus-wide participation.
“The interest in being prepared for students and their mental health needs is high, and it’s not just from people working in mental health,” DeSena-Jacobs says. Faculty and staff throughout the university, from the School of Business to the facilities department, have participated in the training.
This holistic approach is something colleges throughout the state are starting to prioritize.
“There is more of an emphasis and a focus in today’s world related to a health- promoting campus,” says Joy Himmel, director of university counseling at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. “And what that means is that well-being is everyone’s responsibility. The well-being for our students, the well-being for our faculty and staff. It’s really an all-hands-on-deck kind of a concept.”
Faculty at ODU are not required to complete mental health training, but every employee receives access to ODU’s Red Folder, a guide to the warning signs of emotional distress, strategies for approaching students, and clear referral pathways for emergency and nonemergency situations. The university offers optional training opportunities to help employees put those guidelines into practice by recognizing changes in student behavior, responding with empathy and connecting students to campus resources early.
“There is more to the student experience than just sitting in a classroom,” Himmel says. “So, to faculty, we say this is the whole person we’re looking at — it’s not just what they’re doing in your class that matters.”
Much like Aziz, Himmel says she has seen a rise in both the number of students seeking services and higher-acuity students since the COVID-19 pandemic. She also says that more students are coming in acknowledging that they’ve experienced some sort of trauma earlier in their lives.
“I think it’s because people have a whole lot more understanding of how to name their experiences, and they have the understanding and the language to call it trauma,” Himmel says. “But I also think there is a lot more trauma out there, too: environmental, political, historical.”
When she started at ODU four years ago, counselors had overwhelming caseloads and students faced long waitlists. The department has since changed its model by redirecting resources so students can get care more quickly. Himmel says the waitlist has decreased from weeks to just a few days, while Counseling Services has been able to serve more students and increase utilization by about 20%.
Joy Himmel, director of university counseling at ODU (Photo by Jay Paul)
One Size Does Not Fit All
College counseling centers provide support for a wide range of student needs, from first-year students seeking connection to seniors navigating post-graduation uncertainty.
ODU has expanded the availability of in-person counseling options and partnered with Talk Campus to offer 24/7 support to students in a professionally moderated, peer-to-peer, online format. Himmel says that about 35% of the students who are using Talk Campus have never used a well-being platform or experienced mental health treatment. “It is reaching a population that may have never reached out for professional services,” Himmel says.
Students who don’t want therapy but still want support have options. ODU has invested in nontraditional approaches including support groups, life skills e-modules and weekly campus visits from therapy dogs. Himmel says this sort of personalization is key, because not all students want or need psychotherapy.
Such efforts are statewide. University of Virginia in Charlottesville has a service dog on staff, and Randolph-Macon College has wellness advisers who are also students to help those who would rather speak to a peer. And Longwood University in Farmville has leaned into group therapy to address the rise of social anxiety.
David Davino, staff psychologist and training director at Longwood, says the community aspect of group therapy makes it a hard sell, but when it works, “it works really well. ... That’s part of the exposure; it is helpful to be in a group and be anxious about it.”
Regardless of the kind of therapy model a student is looking for, mental health professionals stress one important thing: Seek the help you deserve.
