At the beginning of winter term 2013, a student from the University of Portland transferred to the University of Oregon. Juan Rivera was excited to make the move, but trouble back in his hometown of San Diego, California left him feeling lonely.
“My parents were going through a divorce (at the time),” Rivera said.
He was searching for someone to talk to because he felt he couldn’t handle the back and forth phone calls from his family on his own.
Rivera first sought help at the University Counseling and Testing Center, but he decided not to pursue treatment when he was referred off-campus for help.
“People saw I was going further into depression,” Rivera said. “My grades were slipping.”
Soon, Rivera found UO Active Minds — a group of students who have dedicated their time to providing mental health services to those in the UO community. He attended one of their events, called an “awkward social” and immediately felt like he had found a place where he was supported.
“It showed me that I’m not really the only one,” Rivera said. “There are other students that go through this.”
Rivera became president of the group in spring of 2013. In July 2014, the group was renamed Student Mental Health Advocates. Rivera says it’s a place where mental health advocates, supporters and people struggling with hardship can come together and support one another. The goal of this team is to help remove the stigma of mental health illness in the community.
“You don’t have to have a diagnosis — you can be an ally, you can be a supporter,” Rivera said.
The SMHA partnered with the National Alliance of Mental Health of Lane County to have a student subgroup on campus. These services are entirely free for students and they can go to peer support groups, attend classes and get professional help. They also focus on outreach campaigns to raise awareness about mental health and help bring speakers to campus.
“This is a great opportunity for students,” Rivera said. “The first priority is to get the student help.”
The counseling center offers a variety of resources, primarily individual and group counseling and up to 10 free consultations, where students can get advice about a friend in need of services. To make an appointment with the counseling center, a student must first do a phone assessment.
Suzie Stadelman, outreach coordinator for the counseling center, said that the 20 minute phone assessment is designed to see what the student is looking for.
“From there, we see if they’re interested in off-campus or an in-person assessment,” Stadelman said.
At the counseling center, Stadelman said students’ insurance is not currently accepted.
“Currently, services are being covered by student fees,” Stadelman said. “But that will likely change in fall 2015.”
Included in tuition is a mandatory student health fee that all registered students must pay. The fee allows these students to use services offered — but it’s not health insurance and it doesn’t cover charges for medical services received.
The counseling center looks at it from a social justice perspective and wants to ensure that all students have access to its services.
“We consider what would be the best options for them in regards to their circumstances,” Stadelman said. “If they don’t have insurance, that’s someone who is prioritized.”
The counseling center is limited to the amount of sessions provided.
“We operate on a brief therapy model because we have so many students,” Stadelman said. “We try to keep it to six to 12, but it varies with each student.”
On staff, the counseling center has 20 full-time and seven part time counselors. When Stadelman started working here two years ago, there was a waitlist for students seeking services. This fluctuates depending on the term but currently it does not have a waitlist. Students could either be on the waitlist or work with the center’s case manager to get referred out.
Dillon Vibes, freshman art major, said he walked into the counseling center to ask for resources to help a friend in need.
“They had a counselor available to speak with right away,” Vibes said.
The counseling center typically refers people to the university’s psychology clinic, which is supported by the department, not student fees. This clinic is a training site for people in the doctoral program, so clients are seen by student therapists under supervision of a licensed psychologist.
“We’re able to offer services at a much lower rate, we don’t bill insurance at all,” said Crystal Dehle, psychology clinic director.
Dehle said the clinic doesn’t limit the amount of sessions per student, typically students are seen 20-25 times and they try to provide a course of treatment within an academic timeframe.
At the psychology clinic department, each student therapist has a caseload of four individual clients. They currently are providing services for 60-70 clients. The clinic still has room for couples looking for therapy. However, according to Dehle, the clinic is fairly full otherwise.
Eugene Therapy is an off-campus referral option. Marc Zola, licensed professional counselor and founder of Eugene Therapy, said most clients are referrals from UO. They take all commercial insurance, the process isn’t as lengthy and students can seek services at around $10-20 per session.
Eugene Therapy is also where Rivera ended up going for one-on-one support. He credits SMHA with helping him get there.
“We provide an opportunity for (mental health organizations) to reach students that they would not usually reach,” Rivera says about the ongoing role of SMHA. “Students are more open to students…you’re just their peers.”