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With a more stringent, 

fully-online winter semester 
on 
the 
horizon, 
students 

will continue dealing with 
mental 
health 
struggles 

due to isolation. Because 
of this, the University of 
Michigan’s Counseling and 
Psychological Services plans 
to increase resources.

CAPS Director Todd Sevig 

said the office is adding 
“new services in addition to 
individual counseling that 
students can utilize.”

“We 
have 
received 

increased 
allocations 
for 

additional staff for Winter 
and beyond,” Sevig wrote. 
“So, yes we are making some 
changes for the rest of this 
semester and for Winter to 
better meet current needs.”

Sevig 
said 
they 
have 

filled 
half 
of 
the 
new 

counseling positions and are 
collaborating with University 
students, 
administration 

and other Big 10 counseling 
centers to use the remaining 
funds most effectively. 

“We have actually filled 

4 of the new 8 positions and 
they started this fall,” Sevig 
wrote. “The 4 new ones we 
have filled have helped us 
provide more services in our 
embedded model. We are 
actively considering the best 
way to allocate service with 

the remaining 4 positions — 
both short term for winter 
and longer term for beyond 
this year.”

The 
embedded 
model 

aims to install at least one 
full-time, specialized social 
worker or psychologist in 
each University school. 

While 
wait 
times 
for 

initial consultations with a 
counselor are currently only 
2-3 days, these wait times 
have 
varied 
significantly 

this fall. Throughout the 
semester, students reported 
increased 
feelings 
of 

isolation and mental health 
struggles, raising concerns 
that resources at CAPS could 
be stretched thin. Students 
faced 
long 
wait 
times 

even before the COVID-19 
pandemic. 

In 
an 
email 
to 
The 

Michigan Daily, Sevig said 
most wait times during the 
semester were usually “1.5-
2.5 weeks” but that CAPS 
has 
seen 
“unpredicted 

surges 
in 
demand” 
since 

mid-October. Sevig said the 
increase in demand is caused 
by the challenges students 
are experiencing with the 
COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We’re 
devoting 
every 

available resource to meet 
the need because we don’t 
want the wait to be that 
long,” Sevig wrote.

To facilitate mental health 

and well-being for the winter 
term, the university also 
announced two mid-week, 
one-day “well-being breaks” 

without 
any 
scheduled 

academic activities on Feb. 
24 and March 23.

LSA sophomore Ashley Ke 

said she used CAPS this fall, 
but felt there was a stigma 
around seeking professional 
help for mental health. Ke 
said 
CAPS 
provided 
her 

short-term relief from the 
everyday 
stresses 
of 
the 

pandemic. 

“I feel like in general, 

people seeking professional 
help are very stigmatized, 
and I think it’s been slowly 
getting better in terms of 
being talked about more,” 
Ke said. “I think in terms 
of just getting my feelings 
out 
about 
being 
stressed 

about 
classes 
because 
of 

COVID, 
or 
relationships 

and friendships, a lot of 
which has been exacerbated 
because of COVID, CAPS has 
been helpful.”

Ke 
said 
mostly 
online 

classes and social distancing 
precautions 
have 
affected 

her mental health.

“I’m 
very 
safe 
about 

following 
guidelines 
and 

so I don’t really leave my 
room, which definitely has 
consequences,” 
Ke 
said. 

“It’s hard to do work in the 
same place that you sleep 
and eat, and also I think it’s 
really forced a lot of us to 
confront holding ourselves 
accountable.”

CAPS 
uses 
an 
online 

scheduling 
system 
where 

students can sign up for 
appointments. 
Throughout 

this semester, students have 
experienced 
varying 
wait 

times for appointments with 
counselors. 

Ke, who scheduled her 

initial consultation online at 
the beginning of the semester 
in mid-September, said her 
experience went smoothly. 
The 
system 
allowed 
her 

to 
schedule 
bi-weekly 

appointments and the short 
wait times surprised her.

“I was pretty surprised 

because they got back to 
me pretty quickly,” Ke said. 
“They had more availability 
than I thought they would, at 
least from what I’ve heard in 
the past from talking to other 
students.”

Some students attempting 

to 
schedule 
consultations, 

especially 
later 
in 
the 

semester, have had a different 
experience 
— 
finding 
no 

immediate availability and 
wait times longer than a 
month. 

LSA freshman Ava Ben-

David sought out CAPS this 
fall due to the constantly 
changing 
nature 
of 
the 

semester, which included a 
stay-in-place order and the 
closure of residence halls for 
the winter term.

“I sought some counseling, 

just someone to talk to, 
because this semester has 
been so crazy and there’s 
been a lot of changes,” Ben-
David said. 

Facing another remote semester, 
CAPS hires additional counselors

University’s Counseling and Psychological Services works to increase resources

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
2 — Wednesday, December 9, 2020 

DESIGN BY SAMUEL TURNERr

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WMG-contact@umich.edu 

HANNAH MACKAY & 

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Daily Staff Reporters

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ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

The Michigan Daily’s seniors, class of 2020, bid farewell outside 420 Maynard.

