Counseling Center

We would like to take a moment to thank our colleagues from around the University for all of your collaboration in helping to provide such a caring network of support for our undergraduate and graduate students. The fact that so many of you take the time to talk with students, offer support, and connect them to the Counseling Center when needed, goes a long way in making sure that our students are academically and psychologically successful.

The Counseling Center staff continues to offer high-quality therapeutic services, while managing high demand, increasing symptom severity, and escalating crisis levels amongst students. In addition, staff remains committed to culturally informed care and growing in our own cultural awareness. Throughout the year, the Center offered a range of counseling services to meet the mental health needs of both undergraduate and graduate students, including an array of group and workshop offerings, short-term psychotherapy services, daytime and after-hours emergency services, and comprehensive referral assistance.

This year was shaped by the influences of transitioning to post-pandemic life, with students reporting that disrupted social contact and activities, loss of loved ones, and academic burdens, negatively impacted their mental health. This has been occurring in the context of a generation that was already suffering significant anxiety, depression, and stress.

This year, CLINICAL DEMAND continued near all-time highs including 3,534 total sessions, 815 students seeking services, 587 group therapy contacts, and a record 699 consultations provided to other concerned individuals. At Loyola, those students who sought individual counseling services reported higher levels of distress at intake and required 23% lengthier treatment when compared to previous years. This year also continued the increasing rates in the percentage of students seeking services who had already been in counseling previously, with fully 66% of our clients in this category. This continues a significant trend and is predictive of continuing increases in demand for our services.

The number of CRISES (n= 209, up from a previous high of 171) among students requiring Counseling Center assistance also reached record high levels. A significant portion of these crises required assessment at area hospitals. In additional to suicidality, the primary causes of concern were severe anxiety, severe depression, bipolar disorder, psychotic symptoms, and trauma, including sexual assault.

Importantly, clinical services again have been shown to impact retention in very positive ways. 93% [n=741] of clients reported that their academic performance was significantly improved by counseling. 48% [n=383] of clients reported that counseling helped them stay at Loyola rather than withdraw or transfer. And 42% of graduates of the class of 2023 (43% of those who graduated with honors) came to the Counseling Center for counseling at some point during their Loyola careers. These usage data are significantly higher than data reported by similarly sized institutions.

• Retention: Data from a post-treatment survey showed that being in counseling directly contributed to the retention of 383 students.

• Academic Success: Survey data also showed that being in counseling directly contributed to the academic success of 741 students.

• Belonging: To help keep the Loyola community and our partners updated on our full range of services and resources available through the Counseling Center, as well as to provide intervention for all students in the campus community, we have taken on more outreach events, become a more consistent presence on social media, and further utilized our public health messaging.

Public health campaigns have promoted awareness of today’s college student issues and the benefits of counseling. These efforts have been making the Center more visible and approachable to students. This year, our campaign focused on gender awareness, inclusivity, and health.

• The campaign included programming in the form of printed and digital posters, website content, video interviews featuring various campus partners, and regular social media posts.
• Implementation of gender identity and inclusion training(s) were provided for the President’s Cabinet and for the broader Loyola community as part of the Brown Bag Series hosted by the Office of Equity and Inclusion.
• An all-time high of 4,872 student contacts occurred in over 132 outreach programs with a particular focus on first year and ALANA students.

We successfully expanded our training program to include a social work internship for the 2023-2024 academic year, when we will host three total trainees from Loyola University Maryland (PsyD), Divine Mercy University (PsyD), and the University of Maryland Baltimore (MSW). We also became an official placement site for Johns Hopkins University’s Master of Science in Counseling program.

Being intentional about creating inclusive and equitable mental health and wellness services continues to be at the center of our work, values, and mission. Members of our staff serve in consultation and advocacy roles on committees and task forces committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including but not limited to the President’s Council for Equity and Inclusion, The Collective, and an internal center committee focused on social justice.

We continue to prioritize our relationships with campus partners and our connection with student groups and organizations through outreach, training, and programming, particularly those that serve BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ students. This year those collaborations led to two student-focused wellness events. The re-instatement of the Women of Color Wellness Retreat (co-sponsored by ALANA Services) provided interactive holistic wellness sessions and tips on creating culturally informed self-care and intention setting plans. The Counseling Center also hosted an LGBTQ+ Resource Fair that promoted gender and sexuality inclusive and affirming resources on campus as well as within the broader Baltimore community.

Check out our website for more on our DEI efforts and check out our Instagram page, where we continue to use social media to raise awareness of social justice issues and celebrate a variety of identity and culturally specific events and topics through a wellness and mental health advocacy lens.

The MHTF consists of professionals from across campus and undergraduate and graduate student representatives. Members work collaboratively to connect faculty, administrators, and staff with useful resources and information on mental health, advocate on issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and complete projects benefiting campus-wide public health.

Mission:

• Support students with mental health concerns by promoting services, correcting myths, and cultivating an inclusive wellness-focused environment for all members of the campus community.
• Improve shared ownership and collaboration of mental health resources across divisions.
• Explore environmental factors to enhance safety measures by considering risks related to suicidality, non-suicidal self-injury, and sexual violence amongst others.
• Identify, advocate for, and effect policy change that impacts student mental health.

Development of Mind, Body & Spirit: Post-treatment survey data demonstrated that being in counseling helped an overwhelming majority of students improve their emotional health, become more effective in their relationships with others, and increased their understanding of themselves and their motivations.

A great deal of research shows group counseling to be a very effective form of treatment for many of the challenges experienced by college students. The growth of our group counseling program has been an effective means of dealing with increased clinical demand. Students continue to report overwhelmingly positive feedback about their experiences in groups.

Students are referred to the Center from a variety of sources. As in prior years, students often sought counseling at the suggestion of a friend, highlighting the importance of our strategic outreach to all students.

Making a Referral:

• Be caring, firm, and straight forward in your recommendations
• Suggest that the student call or come in to make an appointment: Humanities 150, 410-617-2273
• Call or walk the student over yourself, if an emergency
• Remind the student that services are FREE AND CONFIDENTIAL

Report Bizarre or Disruptive Behavior

• Dean of Students: 410-617-5171
• Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies: 410-617-5547

Students who came to the Center mirror our overall enrollment. Important to our mission of ensuring the accessibility of service to all students, 30% of students who came to the Center self-identified as being in the BIPOC community and 19% identified as first-generation to attend college. We served 88 students who self-identified as being in the LGBTQ+ community.

We collect data from students who use our services, which helps us to continuously enhance our services and ensure we are meeting the changing needs of Loyola students.

RETENTION:

Data from a post-treatment survey showed that being in counseling directly contributed to the retention of 383 -- last year alone.

ACADEMIC SUCCESS:

Survey data also showed that being in counseling directly contributed to the academic success of 741 students.

The Counseling Center is accredited by the International Association of Counseling Services (IACS).

Website: https://www.loyola.edu/department/counseling-center
Location: Humanities, Room 150 One flight up the turret entrance
Phone: (410) 617-2273