Baylor University Counseling Center Offers Range of Services to Students

In Spring 2016, Baylor University’s Board of Regents voted to increase resources to support the work of the Baylor University Counseling Center (BUCC), providing funds to hire additional staff and to add a second facility. BUCC provided services to more than 2,000 students in 2016-2017, a 65 percent increase from the year before.

“There is a major shift occurring in higher education regarding how mental health services are provided to students,” said Dr. Jim Marsh, executive director for counseling services.

Staff clinicians at BUCC, including psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists and professional counselors provide a continuum of care to address each student’s unique needs. For friends or faculty concerned about a Baylor student, BUCC staff offer consultation services where they explain how to connect the student with resources. Students seeking assistance with problem solving can drop by BUCC’s weekly “Let’s Talk” outreach in the SUB. Workshops hosted by the Counseling Center help students develop practical skills in areas such as mindfulness, resilience and grit.

“Historically, when most people thought of counseling, they probably envisioned meeting one-on-one with a mental health professional for individual counseling,” Marsh said. “Although individual counseling is still provided, there are many other ways we help students that are just as effective as individual counseling.”

For students experiencing mild to moderate depression or anxiety, Therapist Assisted Online (TAO) has emerged as an option that is as effective in many cases as one-on-one therapy. A seven to nine week, interactive web-based program, TAO consists of modules that provide skills and strategies for a student to practice, while a counselor monitors progress and meets with the student weekly through a secure video conferencing tool. Tailored to fit each student’s schedules and needs, the modules can be completed on a smartphone or computer, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. TAO also has a self-help component that all students are welcome to utilize— whether or not they ever set foot in the Counseling Center. The self-help option is an online library of behavioral health resources to manage stress, practice problem-solving and more. Educational modules and practice tools help students understand and manage how to think, feel and act. This resource is private, free and available to all Baylor students.

“TAO has so many things students can take advantage of,” Marsh said. “The program offers self-help components like calming anger, building communication skills in relationships and an entire library on mindfulness, with tools to let go of stress and anxiety. There are many things students can do to help self-manage.”

For many of the concerns college students face, group counseling is one of the best treatments available. Groups offer a confidential and supportive atmosphere to work through a challenge, while establishing a sense of belonging and realizing others have similar concerns. Group therapy can be as impactful as individual counseling, or more so.

Groups at the Counseling Center have an average of five to eight students and one or two counselors. They generally meet weekly, for 90 minutes.

BUCC currently offers 19 different groups in which students are guided toward making decisions and finding direction. Offerings sometimes change based on expressed needs. In the fall, students gathered around themes of social confidence, art therapy, resilience and separate men’s and women’s recovery groups.

“Although some may see the increase in students seeking help as a reason for concern, the increase in the number of students taking advantage of the resources available to them is really a positive sign,” Marsh said. “Students are actively taking care of themselves and realize the importance of their emotional wellbeing just as much as their physical wellbeing.”

To learn more about the resources in the Counseling Center and how to get help, visit baylor.edu/counseling_center.