Cal Poly is in session. Students swarm through campus and file in and out of classes. You're thinking about the chapter reading they have tonight, their next class, their new dorm, their senior project, how to get to the gym, what's for dinner tonight? Where's in yours bathroom? Kate and I know things can get a bit chaotic as a student navigating the ins and outs of college life.
At cal Poly, we focus on learning by doing, but sometimes you don't know what to do well. Emma and I are here to answer your who, what, when, where, why, and how's here? On CP one oh one Learned by Listening, presented by KCPR ninety one point three.
Hi Mustang, I'm Emma Hughes, a third year English student, and.
I'm Kate Lopenski, a third year journalism student here at cal Poly, and we're here to share our tell all guide on how to survive and thrive at cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
So grab a notebook. You may want to write this down.
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we wanted to provide you with all the resources you'll need to navigate this essential topic at cal Poly.
We'll share a bit about our own mental health experiences and discuss some resources available on campus. We also interviewed the director of counseling services to provide you with the best information. So before we get into the actual interview with an expert, Kate, I was curious about how your mental health journey has been since starting college.
I mean, it definitely took a lot of twists and turns because as we all know, this is a really challenging time in our lives.
Yeah, college is all about change, as we know, and that creates a lot of uneasiness, especially for mental health.
I mean share college is fun and all, but you're learning how to be your own independent self and a full on adult, which is crazy. So I went through my whole life, as it turns out, with generalized anxiety disorder and had no idea how life and she just really hit her peek during college. Yes, and so it came to a point where I was like, how do I get to the point where I don't feel like I have a Doc Martin stomping on my chest every time I wake up in the morning.
And have we reached that point? Yes?
We have because I actually used Calpol mental health resources.
Oh yeah, amazing.
I did one on one counseling, which is so helpful in my opinion, And we're gonna learn a bit more about that from Andrea later on. So, Emma, I know that you're more of a DIY girl when it comes to mental health, So tell me a bit about what you've been doing to keep yourself healthy and happy right now.
Yeah, So I have definitely considered campus resources, but never actually took the next step and getting involved with that. But I actually do a lot of journaling, so I just really vent. It's like it's basically a diary, let's be real, But I just vent through writing and of course me being my little English made yourself just read a good book for escapism and then write in my
journal about anything and everything. That's kind of been what keeps me going because I just I get to see either, oh, like I'm being a little over dramatic about this experience, like it's not that deep. It gives me time to really reflect on my own experiences, but also gives me clarity about no, like I am definitely feeling these things and I'm allowed to feel these things. And yeah, so
that's kind of been my experience. Just I definitely take time for myself to work on things and reflect for sure, And.
That just shows how unique your mental health approach can be, because I really like talking it out with someone who does not have any stake in my life whatsoever. Right, that is extremely helpful to me. I've tried journaling before and it just doesn't do anything for me.
Yeahere is opposite for you, I mean, and again, like Kate was saying, it's it's whatever works for you. And so a lot of what we'll talk about today is the campus resources that are available to you, but just know that those are not the only options, and we also have some around just the slow community as well as different ways that you can work individually.
Now that we've shared about ourselves, let's hear from Andrea Lawson, the director of cal Poly Counseling Services, on how to navigate the counseling center and all of the different resources that they offer.
My name is Andrew Lawson, I usually her pronouns, and I am the director of Counseling Services here. I'm a licensed clinical social worker, and I've been in college mental health since two thousand and six, and so it's been a minute. So I've been at several college counseling centers at the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin, and
out here at cal Poly. I've been here for almost four years, so it's been great to be a part of this campus community and to be able to provide high quality, responsive mental health treatment and support for students ongoing as well as when they're in crisis.
I wanted to start our conversation with Andrea have a little conversation about stigma, because, especially on a college campus with a bunch of young adults, mental health is this kind of hush hush taboo topic, or at least it has been for a while, and just kind of what that means for a student going in and trying to seek help.
Yeah, totally. So we've definitely come a long way. But at the same time, I feel like when someone says, oh, I'm in therapy, there's immediate, like, I don't know, flashing lights in your head, like, oh, why is that person choosing to do that?
Right?
And you have to kind of explain yourself. So, yeah, there is definitely a stigma there, and so it was really interesting to hear from Andrea what the trends were.
Yeah, stigma is a really important topic to address when we're talking about mental health, and basically, stigma is people really feeling maybe badly about mental health or worried that people we'll think differently about them if they talk about depression or anxiety or the other symptoms that they're experiencing. And stigma can get in the way of people accessing
mental health care as well. And so one of the things that we actually know from our data is that stigma is reducing, So overall, stigma is less and less
over time. That means that there's more and more acceptance of talking about mental health or other concerns like that in our campus culture in particular, and this is true across all the campuses that I've been a part of, and really I think in society in general right now, there's much more acceptance of and discussion of anxiety or depression or other mental health concerns, and so it's been
a really nice trajectory to see. At the same time, there are some families or communities or individuals where that stigma is still really high, where maybe your parents don't believe in mental health, or maybe it's not really accepted to go to therapy in your communities and So one of the things that we're doing is providing different types
of access to support here. So we do mental health check ins at the Black Academic Excellent Center and at the Multicultural Centers and some of the other cultural centers on campus, so that students don't have to come to therapy and have an actual clinical visit with us to be able to get support and help. And then we're also really trying to contextualize what we're doing in a culturally responsive way for students across all identities, to say, what's the way that you need support and how can
we be there for you in that way? And for some folks it is coming in for therapy, and for others it might be engaging with our app that's called well Track Boost where they can do cognitive behavioral sort of interventions on their own, or do a meditation through that app, or maybe it's dropping into let's Talk, which is a more informal conversation with a counselor that we
do virtually on Wednesdays and Thursdays. So we're really trying to say, like, yes, stigma is reducing and there's more opportunity to connect clinically with somebody, but there's also a lot of ways to get support and help and be able to talk more about mental health with your peers, with your family, or with a therapist.
So, after we learned about the trends with mental health stigma, we talked to Andrea about where to start if you want to either seek on campus or off campus resources. She just shared so much about what's offered in the slow area.
Yeah, and we were also just especially curious about how to start and what that looks like and where students should go, and she kind of helped us navigate that.
Yeah, there are so many different components if you're seeking help outside of counseling services at like on campus, such as like copays and insurance and all of that. So she really broke that down.
So on our website, we have a page that's dedicated to referral information, So it talks about what to think about when you're looking for a therapist, if you have certain types of insurance, how to navigate those questions to ask about coverage and copays and deductibles and all of that, who's in network versus out of network, and so it kind of gives you some guidelines or a blueprint for thinking about some of those things and asking some of
those questions, and then we have it linked to Psychology Today, which has a therapist finder in it, and so you can search within that for either the topic of what you're concerned about, or the type of insurance that they take, or identity factors of that provider, or lots of other aspects, and so then it'll pull up for you providers that fit your parameters, and then you can reach out to those people to talk about what an intake looks like
or how to get connected with them. A lot of therapists in town will do a free consultation with you for fifteen minutes to just get to know you a little bit and see if it's a good fit or not. But some of them will kind of assign you directly to an intake and then they'll either charge your insurance for it, or you can pay out of pocket for it and then be reimbursed if you have insurance at least in part, or you can pay out of pocket
for those counseling sessions. There's a lot of option in the community, so there's a lot of different types of people, a lot of different contexts, and there's also some low cost options as well, So if paying for therapy at all is outside of what you're able to do, there is on campus there's another clinic that's run out of the master's program and so they have therapists and training who are supervised by licensed providers who are providing services,
and they have a sliding scale fee that goes, I believe down to zero, so it can be very affordable to go there, and they do that based on your family income or what resources you have available to you, and so they provide ongoing treatment there for a range
of concerns. And then there's also as a part of Transitions Mental Health Association in town, they have a brief therapy clinic that's available at no charge as well, so they typically will see people for ten to twelve sessions, and they have a really cool array of student providers as well as therapists that are licensed that are overseeing their work. So there's a lot of option at a
range of cost points. The main difference between community providers and US is that you have already paid your student health fee and so there's no additional cost to come to see a therapist here at Counseling Services.
If you are choosing to start your mental health experience here on campus, then you're in luck because there is an abundance of different therapy modalities available for you, and Andrew really breaks that down here.
So we provide brief individual therapy as well as couple in partner therapy and group therapy through our clinical services. So the way that students connect with that is by calling us to schedule a brief screening appointment. So this is just a fifteen minute phone conversation with one of our counseling providers to talk about what's going on, how it's impacting you, and then what services can best support you.
And then that counselor will refer the student to individual therapy or to a group, or to a workshop or other services like that. So all of these appointments are scheduled and they happen Monday through Friday, eight to five generally, and we don't have session limits here, so it's not like you can only be seen for three sessions or five sessions. But we try to respond to what the student's needs are, what their clinical needs are, as well as what their resourcing is and if it's not feasible
for them to get ongoing care. Then what we want to do is take a look at, Okay, how can we keep them here and support them in their mental health needs within the scope of what we're providing. So, just like on the health services side of campus health and well Being, you're not going to go there for cancer treatments or for brain surgery, right, You're going to go there if you sprain your ankle, or if you
need a wound dressed or other things like that. And so we do have a limited scope of what we're able to provide, but our hope is that every student can have at least one service from us, whether it's a consultation or an outreach presentation or drop into let's talk or ongoing individual therapy for as long as they need it here.
So I've used these formal services that she talks about, and I have really enjoyed my experience so far. That is just what personally works for me. I knew that I didn't want anything pretty casual because I wanted a solid foundation with my therapist and I wanted them to get to know me as a person and not have like just a drop in opportunity. But I mean, there are so many more casual ways to partake in counseling services at cal Poly.
Yeah, I know. I was particularly curious about the option of a drop in like therapy session called let's Talk, and Andrea really breaks that down in a second here for us, But that was just something that I didn't know students even had available to them to just hop on a quick zoom meeting or stop by in person and just sit down for a brief chat.
And those let's talk drop ins are actually one on one, so it is a private experience. They do have group services that are also offered, but if you do want a private talk, that is definitely an option for you.
We also have more informal services or what we call drop in services, and that's things like let's talk that happen virtually. We have medication for mental health on Thursday afternoons on the front lawn. We have an ADHD support group that's a drop in style. On Friday afternoons, we have Roots Group, which is for BIPOC students to connect with other BIPOX students. That's a drop in space that sometimes is virtual and sometimes is in person depending on
the week. And then we have lots of other ways that we're connecting with different departments on campus as well to do presentations or to just have more informal conversations with students. So it's not like you go to see the scary therapist, but you're going to see Shauna, or you're going to see Sheila, or you're going to see Conrad. So all these people are a part of the milieu
of support for students. One of the cool things that we've started in the last couple of years as a webinar series, So in November and in May we have a Friday webinar every Friday that has a different topic. So this year it's mental health in You, so kind of basically understanding what does mental health mean for me with the identities I hold in the context that I have, and what can I do to support myself on it.
We also have one about body image, and then we have one in partnership with Safer to talk about sexual health and sexual assault and how we can have healthy, safe sexual relationships with other people. And so we're really excited about that collaboration in particular, but really trying to say, Okay, not everybody's going to come here, how do we help get our message out and have students feel.
Supported beyond scheduled appointments. They also have crisis in urgent support services, so if you are facing something right in the moment, they are able to help you out.
And then the last way that we support students is through our crisis and Urgent support services. So each day from eight to five, students can come to Counseling Services, which is here in Building twenty seven at the Health Center, and they can say I'm in crisis, I need to talk to somebody, and we'll work them in to be seen within an hour or two, depending on what our
availability is. And then after hours, we have a crisis line that's available twenty four to seven, so if it's two in the morning and you're having a panic attack, you can call and talk with a clinician about what's going on. They'll safety plan with you and they'll help you make a plan for those next steps after that. So that is available anytime that you need it, and there's no limit on how much you could use that. We really want to be there to support students regardless of what's going on.
If you are looking to schedule an appointment with Health and Counseling Services, you are easily able to do so, and ANGO will kind of explain that process for you in case you are a little nervous about how that.
Works in general, Like I was saying, that first step is to call us to schedule a brief screening appointment, and so we will your our front desk folks will talk with you about your availability, and typically we're able to schedule that same day or next day, depending on your schedule and when you have class and when you're
available to meet with us. And so we'll schedule that fifteen minute phone call and then our clinician will call you so you don't have to be here, you don't have to show up in our space, and we really want to understand your story, what your context is, so that we can respond appropriately to that. Once you're referred for individual therapy here, then you'll get to choose whether
it's in person or virtual. So right now we have most of our therapists do hybrid schedules, partly because we don't have enough space for all of them to have an office every day. Some days they're here on site and some days they're virtual. And so as a student, you'll be asked whether which you and you prefer whether in person or virtual, but you may need to be a little bit flexible on the modality. You know, in case your provider calls in sick, they may be able
to do a virtual appointment rather than in person. Or the same flexibility is available for you too, So if you have a cold but you still want to meet with your therapists, you can say, hey, can we meet via zoom or phone instead and we can make that adjustment.
So it's one of the benefits of the last four years through COVID and through all of that is that we've really grown those muscles and being able to provide virtual services and it's really been shown to be just as effective as in person services.
How Polit, counseling services understands that it can be really difficult to take that first step and make that initial call to schedule your first appointment. There are plenty of ways to get in touch with the office and there are so many people there that genuinely want to help you. As Andrea emphasized throughout the interview, that was really really cool to see, Like she just kept on repeating how much the staff cares for the students truly.
And she herself is very involved. She's actually the one who reads the emails that are sent to health services, so that you'll get to talk one on one with Andrea potentially, and.
She's the absolute sweetest. Yes, So it makes life all the more easy.
I think especially students now don't call anybody. Well you know, they don't call or talk to anybody on the phone, and so talking on the phone feels like maybe a new thing or something that you don't do regularly, and so that can feel even more difficult to get over that hump. But I would say, you know, we have a team of people who are here and ready to help you, and so by calling, you are tapping into those resources, and they're gonna be responsive to that. They'll say, hey,
I'm so glad you called. Here are the options. This is when you can get scheduled or sounds like you need to talk to somebody today, come on in. We've got something available right now. So we really are a team that's invested in supporting students and helping to get them where they need to be. If calling just feels like way too far out of your comfort zone, you
can also email us. So I'm the one who answers the counseling atcoupoly dot eu email address, But sometimes just having a little more information or making that initial contact can really be helpful. One thing I'll just add is that we have twenty two therapists on staff right now, which is impressive. Yeah, thank you, And we've hired a bunch in the last five years and so we've been
able to really expand our available availability and services. So right now, like I said, you can get in for that screening typically same day or next day, and then we have intakes available within the same week right now as well. So I think sometimes there is this sense or maybe a fear that you won't be able to get in or that there's no space, and I just
want to say, right now, that's not true. So we do have that availability and are here to support you, and we're still going to help you get to that right resource for you, whether that's with us or someone else.
So we kind of wanted to know a little bit more about the context of maybe why people are coming to counseling services, what is most affecting us college students, and how can we find the help that we need. So Andrew actually shared quite a few important statistics with us, specifically about anxiety and depression. But it really kind of put into perspective what we as college students are facing.
In twenty sixteen, twenty four percent of students responded that they were moderate or severely depressed according to the PHQ, which is one of the clinical measures of depression. In twenty twenty, that went up to forty four percent. Forty four percent of students screened positive for depression and that moderate to severe category. Then this fall it's actually dropped down to thirty four percent, and so we're really glad to see that and also is such an indicator of
that trend. Right, So imagine back to where you were in the fall of twenty twenty and what you're experiencing and what context you had. Like here at cal Poly, all the classes were virtual. There are very few people on campus. It was also when I started here, so it was a very funny time to get to know
a new campus, a new community. But it's interesting to be able to look historically at that data and to see both improvement but also recognize that a third of our students are screening positive for depression, and so that means that there's a lot of students who could benefit from conversations about emotional well being and around connecting with other people and maybe not feeling quite so alone in those symptoms that they're experiencing and know that we are
here to support you in that. But also there's so many people across campus that can also help invest in your mental health. So one of the things we're really focused on is a holistic approach to mental health, recognizing that when you engage in the Safer Leadership training or when you go to a student club or organization you take on a leadership role there, that you're investing in your mental health by engaging in those behaviors in the same way that you might be if you're coming here
for therapy. And so we're not the only answer to mental health or well being or things like that. There's so many opportunities to support one another in that as students, as well as to connect with programs and services and trainings that are available to you here at cal Poly.
In the last few years, anxiety has actually taken over depression as a more prevalent concern, and so in that same study it was thirty four percent and twenty twenty of students were screen positive for anxiety, and now that's down to thirty two percent, so we'll take a little bit of improvement. But again, about a third of students are experiencing anxiety, and so we hear that more often
as a reason for coming into services with us. We also can look at national data trends around that, so it's not just cal Poly students, but the Center for Collegiate Mental Health Health does aggregate data for all students across the country who are engaged in clinical services at their counseling center like this, and they've seen that same
trend over time that anxiety has overtaken depression. However, since the maybe two thousand and eight twenty ten when they started collecting data, it's been a steady increase over time in many of the symptoms, and finally we're actually seeing a leveling off of depression and anxiety, so it's no
longer going up, but it's still very present. And this kind of ties back into what we were saying earlier about stigma that because stigma is reducing, people feel more comfortable maybe identifying with having depression or identifying other mental health concerns and seeking out help for it. So the increase in reporting and in utilization is not necessarily a
bad thing or an indicator of crisis. It's an indicator that people are acknowledging what their experiences and reaching out for help and support around that.
So we are so grateful for this interview in this time with Andrew because we really got to understand that there is a pretty big team of therapists on campus ready to help you.
Yeah, and they are there for different ways of helping you too, Like there are a ton of different services that they provide. Again, there's group, there's individual, there's to drop in, there's crisis, there's anything that you could ever need for free here on campus, which is super super crucial, especially for US college students.
Exactly, you're already paying your health services payment in your dues, so I mean, why not just.
Give it a try.
So there are actually psychiatric services on campus as well. And what's really cool is if you're already seeing a psychiatrist from home, you can have your medication sent to the health center so you could pick it up there. But then also if you are looking to start medication, you can get in contact with a psychiatrist on campus, usually through a therapist referral, but you can get started on medication and pick it up either on campus or in a pharmacy near you.
And beyond that, there is also some more casual opportunities to promote wellness here on campus. For instance, I'm sure many of you have seen the therapy dogs that go to dexter or even goat yoga. Mm hm.
I can never get a spot and go yoa.
I know, I never know it's happening until I see it, and I'm like, wow, I wish, I wish I was doing goat yoga right now.
I actually really like the yoga at the rec center because I mean, like we're saying, like you're already paying for it in your dues, so might as well just take yoga classes that would cost hundreds of dollars if you were doing it from an outside studio. Like we've emphasized throughout this episode, there are so many unique opportunities for pretty much everyone because everyone has their own way of navigating their own mental health.
Yeah, and something that also is super super beneficial is having a good cry every once in a while, like just kind of it feels like such a detox to just let it out, have your moment, you know, let it all go, and then compose yourself and continue continue slaying. Honestly, that's so true.
My friend told me recently something that is gonna stick with me forever. She was like, you have to flop in order to slay, And I feel like shout out to Bianca on that one. That just really suits you, know what.
Not that not that I'm saying your mental health is a flop.
No, not at all.
But you could have a flop era though.
That's totally fine. Why not have your flop er to get to your sleigh era.
Exactly, and counseling services is there to help you get there, but you can also do it.
On your own as well.
Whatever works for you.
Well, that's all the time we have for today. One last piece of advice. It is always, always, always okay to take a mental health day and focus on your well being.
Anyways, we'll be back with more tips and tricks next time on CP one on one Learn by listening. You can find us on any preferred streaming platform for the next episode.
And to keep up to date with CP one on one and all KCPR podcasts, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Spotify, TikTok, or Facebook at KCPR nine one three or check.
Us out on kcpr dot org. Slash Podcast signing off, I'm Kate Lopensky.
And I'm Emma Hughes. Thanks for keeping up with all things cal poly.