Effectiveness of College Counseling Centers in Mental Health

Since the first college counseling center opened in 1910, college counseling centers have been one of the primary providers of mental health services to college aged students (Brunner, Wallace, Reymann, Sellers, McCabe, 2014). Indeed, 10-15% of college students are accessing mental health services on campus (Kraft, 2011). These centers often focus on short-term treatment modalities (Kraft, 2011) that have been shown to be effective as they treat everything from depression to personality disorders (Brunner, Wallace, Reymann, Sellers, McCabe, 2014).
A recent study by Minami and colleagues (2009) showed the effectiveness of college counseling centers in psychological treatment. They compared therapy outcomes of college students treated at a University

Providing university students with brief treatment is a role that is important to college counseling centers given that college counseling centersthey are continually seeing an increase in the number of students seeking psychological help as well as an increased severity of the pathology with which students present (Brunner, Wallace, Reymann, Sellers, McCabe, 2014; Erdur-Baker, Barrow, Aberson, Draper, 2006). In short, college counseling centers are seeing evermore demands being placed upon them. Beyond the increased severity of presenting concerns, counseling centers across the nation are also seeing an increase in the chronicity of presenting illnesses (Erdur-Baker, Barrow, Aberson, Draper, 2006). Erdur-Baker, Barrow, Aberson, and Draper (2006) have speculated about the dubious nature of the claim that college counseling centers are seeing an increase in presenting concern severity and chronicity, ; however, they note that regardless of the truthfulness of the claim, many counseling center staff are concerned with the issue of increased severity and chronicity. It would seem that as societal problems increase in complexity, the problems of college-aged students have become increasingly complex as well (Erdur-Baker, Barrow, Aberson, Draper,

They found that help seeking attitudes are not static and that there are many complex factors that effect the decision to attend counseling. If the student endorsed a high anticipated benefit, a high level of self-disclosure, and a high level of social support, she or he is was more likely to seek professional help (Nam, et al 2013). If, however, the student endorsed a high stigma associated with mental health help seeking, if the anticipated risks were high, or if they preferred to self-conceal, she or he was more likely to use other methods of treatment (Nam, et al 2013). Olivas and Li (2006) found that international students tend to reach out to family and friends for support rather than a therapist. This is likely because international students are often unfamiliar with counseling services and prefer less formal methods of treatment (Olivas & Li, 2006). Cornell University founded an outreach program that deemphasized traditional counseling and focused more on informal meeting time/length. Under this program, Several clients are even allowed to meet meeting with counselors anonymously (Boone, et al. 2011). Anecdotally, Boone and colleagues state that the program has seen significantly more ethnic minority individuals as well as international students, ; however, they note the