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