Crisis hot line provides after-hours support

By Winston Yu

The counseling services on campus unveiled an after-hours hot line to assist students in psychological distress outside of normal business hours.

According to Vice Provost for Student Life Jeanne Rosenberger, the hot line is simply the newest tool in the many offerings that Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers.

"The on-call line is really a supplement to other services," she said. "It's very similar to that of the health center, which has an on-call advice nurse who works when the health center is closed."

Dr. Larry Wolfe, director of health and psychological services for CAPS, said the new after-hours telephone service was targeted directly at students who may be in crisis or who may just need someone to talk to outside of normal business hours.

"Prior to this, my staff members were available as consultants to university staff on duty at night," he said. "This is new in that students can talk directly with a mental health counselor."

He said anyone that feels the need to use this line will be able to.

"Clearly this line is in part for people that are feeling in crisis. It may not be a real crisis, but this is an opportunity for them to talk to someone who can provide advice or walk them through what to do."

And while she did not provide specifics, Rosenberger did offer some insight into why the hot line was created.

"We do know that college counseling services are being utilized far more now than in the past ten years," she said. "There is a significantly greater need for the types of services that CAPS provides."

Wolfe supported Rosenberger's explanation, noting that nationally, all university counseling centers are busier than they were ten years ago.

"Every year we've had an increase in the number of students and sessions that we do," he said, "We have a waiting list again right now, so we can't service all the students coming in, although when we do have a wait list we try and get them in within a week."

Within the Santa Clara community, students can seek advice and discuss any issues they may have with any number of individuals and entities, such as Campus Ministry, their professors, community facilitators, resident ministers and faculty and resident directors.

Sophomore community facilitator Aleck Hiscox said there are times when these individuals may not be properly trained to handle a situation.

"The CFs and leadership teams can handle a lot of things that students can face," he said. "But sometimes there's just a situation where you have to step back and let the professionals take care of it, like when someone might be depressed or suicidal."

In cases where students do not actively seek out professional help and their friends or professors may be concerned but unsure of what to do, they can also call the CAPS office to speak with a counselor.

They can provide advice on how to best approach the situation.

People may also call or visit CAPS to ask for more information regarding specific disorders or for any other counseling or advice.

According to Rosenberger, the CAPS staff works to provide information and assistance to the entire Santa Clara community.

"It's a group of professionally-trained psychologists that bring to campus a set of experiences and knowledge that is then available as a resource to a number of constituents on campus," she said.

CAPS is housed in the Cowell Student Health Center across from the tennis courts.

According to CAPS's Web site, its mission is to "provide short-term individual and group psychotherapy to all registered SCU students, and consultation and outreach to the university community."

Its offered services include individual and group counseling, relationship advice, 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and the administration of educational tests such as the GRE, the GMAT and the MSAT for teachers.

Students can make appointments with counselors for up to ten individual sessions per year, free of charge, or take part in an unlimited number of group therapy sessions.

Topics discussed during therapy sessions can range from simple stress-related issues such as test anxiety or homesickness to other issues such as alcohol and drug concerns, eating disorders and depression.

"We want to help students with whatever is getting in the way of their learning," Wolfe said. "We want students to be able to focus on what they're here for."

The university has made greater efforts to address students' mental health in recent years, and CAPS has been the organization dedicated to fulfilling that goal.

The death of law student Timothy Pramer after a fall from the library during the summer may have spurred the school to create initiatives with greater outreach throughout the student community.

However, Wolfe said, "This was already in the works before the suicide."

Pramer died after falling from a third-floor balcony located near the St. Clare room in the library.

He was 21, and his death shocked the community as rumors spread about a suicide. It has not been confirmed if the death was intentional or not.

The balcony on which it occurred has been closed since the incident late last summer.

It will be closed indefinitely.

Contact Winston Yu at (408) 554-4546 or wyu1@scu.edu.