Colleges Continue to Cope with Student Mental Health Crisis
The rise in mental health issues among college students over the last decade has spiked even higher following the pandemic, with existing issues exacerbated, new problems created by the isolation and despair of the onset of COVID-19, and a particular increase in depression and anxiety among students of color, partially resulting from how the pandemic pulled back the curtain on structural racism (more in this article about a study by the University of Alabama-Birmingham). College mental health centers and professionals are pushed to the limit, and still the demand is not entirely met, as evidenced by the challenges experienced at the University of Iowa health center (detailed in this Hechinger Report article).
The vast majority of coaches are not counselors, and coaching and counseling are best kept to their own lanes and practitioners. However, coaches can help students take action in areas under their control, potentially building self-esteem through increasing agency, which can have positive effects on mental health. Ben Locke of the Center for Collegiate Mental Health notes that as a result of the "well-intentioned and often helpful push" to seek help that colleges have provided over the last two decades, students are seeking support for more minor challenges. Coaches can help ease the pressure on mental health practitioners by asking questions that help students separate what they can change through coaching from issues better handled with a counselor.
Together, coaches and mental health practitioners can help students while resourcing one another.
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