Student Counseling at ICU

Akari Watanabe (University Counselor, ICU Counseling Center)

*This article was written in 2017

[日本語]

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Student counseling has always been a core part of the ICU student services since its establishment. When the university was founded, there were no mental health professionals on campus. There was, however, an understanding that each member of faculty and administration takes care of students collaboratively (Tsuru, 1980). According to Tsuru (1980), a student with financial difficulties might have arranged to support him/herself by on-campus jobs such as a cleaning staff for the university, a helper at a professor’s on-campus home, a dishwasher at the dining hall, or as a university telephone switching board operator. It was common for faculty and administrative staff members to communicate with students not only about their professional capacities but also at a more personal level. It was not necessary in such an environment to intervene and support students through counseling or psychotherapy because every student was given individualized support for not only academic issues but also physical, mental, and financial health concerns (Tsuru, 1980).

Naturally, as the number of students grew and the university system became more complex, it was not feasible to continue this type of student support. However, the on-campus collaborative network for student services further developed to provide specific and appropriate attention to the wellbeing of ICU students.

Today, there is active coordination and collaborative interactions between the counseling center and the university staff regarding students. For instance, the counseling center leads a monthly conference called Students’ Health Meeting (学生の健康を考える会) with members of faculty and administrative staff who interact daily with students in order to discuss their concerns and observations about issues that ICU students encounter in general. This network is a great resource for learning about the experience of students from multiple aspects, facilitate collaboration among university staff members, and intervene or prevent problems on campus. The counseling center also reaches out to the dormitory communities, providing lectures and consultations for dormitory managers and floor assistances. Understanding and supporting a student’s whole experience while at ICU is a tradition that university staff practice and adhere to today.

Services Offered by ICU Counseling Center

ICU Counseling Center is located on the 2^nd floor of Dialogue House, offering students individual face-to-face counseling, referral services, consultations, lectures, and workshops. Consultations are provided for family members as well as faculty and administrative staff members regarding their concerns for ICU students. The university psychiatrist offers weekly on-site psychiatric consultations and medication management for students who need psychiatric care.

The majority of the sessions at the counseling center involve helping students individually through counseling. Most students attend weekly sessions, which may continue for a long time for some, while for others for only a few sessions. On average, students who sought help from the counseling center attended 9.7 sessions during the academic year 2014（ICU Counseling Center, 2016). The steady increase is noted in the number of students’ visits at the counseling center every year. There were 2,871 visits during the academic year 2014, the highest since the center’s establishment in 1963. Roughly ten percent of the total student body visits the counseling center annually. Compared to the national average of 4.9% among Japanese universities (Iwata, et al., 2016), ICU Counseling Center meets more than twice the national average, thus highlighting the heavy service demand annually.

Regarding the referral sources for counseling, the majority is self-referred while more than ten percent come from faculty and administrative staff. For instance, an academic advisor may recommend student counseling during an advising session when a concern is raised about the student. Similarly, when a student receives low grades over consecutive terms, the dean of college of liberal arts sends a warning letter to the student as well as his guardian to suggest consultation at the counseling center.

Diverse Students Seen at the Counseling Center

ICU has started to employ an admission system and financial aid designed to target a broader group of students. At the counseling center, we see that today’s student body comes from more diverse backgrounds. Many students enter ICU with high academic skills who have aimed at top national universities in Japan. In addition, a large number of Japanese students have some international experience before entering ICU. A wider variety of exchange programs has resulted in differences among non-Japanese students regarding country of origin, length of stay, and motivations of studying at ICU (Watanabe, 2016). Some have familial connections with Japan while others have not studied the Japanese language formally before entering ICU.

Some students come from socio-economically challenging backgrounds and adjusting to a university community poses a great challenge. Some had difficulty attending regular Japanese school systems or have a history of absenteeism. It is our impression at the counseling center that more and more students enter ICU with prior history of psychiatric diagnosis, treatment, and use of psychotropic medication. Today, students’ expectations and needs for university experiences are becoming more and more diverse. Students bring various topics and concerns to their sessions, which include adjustment problems, self-esteem, interpersonal problems, lack of motivation to study, generalized anxiety, childhood abuse, sexuality, illnesses, and familial conflicts.

Some students present symptoms that require immediate clinical attention and treatment such as suicidal ideation, panic attacks, and psychosis. In fact, many major psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, first appear in an individual in the late adolescence and early adulthood. For those students with prior history of mental illness, it is important that they transition and adjust to the new environment smoothly and receive continuation of care after their matriculation. To facilitate these transitions, coordination with students’ guarantors or off-campus clinicians is sometimes necessary. Foreign students with mental health issues may present unique challenges in meeting their medical and financial needs and therefore may benefit from receiving appropriate information and orientation as soon as they enter ICU.

Developmental Concerns During College Years

University life often coincides with a developmental stage during which a young person undergoes dynamic psychological, cognitive, and social challenges. Recent neuroscientific research using the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of brain maturation has shown that a continuous neurodevelopment strongly influences social behaviors of young adults (Girard, 2010). Therefore, university students enter “a uniquely crucial and vulnerable stage of life” (Girard, 2010, p.180), while their brains acquire dynamic growing abilities for understanding and mastering more complicated social interactions.

Some common psychosocial developmental tasks required during late adolescence and young adulthood are separation from home, exploring and establishing one’s own identity, choosing a career path, and developing intimate partnerships. To achieve these goals, students often seek role models in the university faculty and administrative members and rely on them for guidance and support. In order to establish their own individual identity, students utilize relationships with adults on campus as mentors to search for their professional aspirations (Eichler, 2006).

Teacher’s Role in Making a Counseling Referral

In general, it is safe to say that when a student’s academic performance is poor, multiple influencing factors may exist, such as social, personal, or financial struggles. Therefore, academic performance could serve as the first indicator for faculty members to detect a possible complication of multiple difficulties. High achieving students, however, should not be viewed as problem-free. Faculty members may encounter problematic behaviors both in and outside of the classroom. For instance, some students may be absent from class for consecutive weeks and never respond to outreach efforts. Some students may write down their personal problems in their assignments or comment sheets, thus alerting professors of a possible problem. Parents of an advisee may call his/her academic advisor with their set of concerns for the student.

Sometimes, a student may be able to sort out anxiety or struggles by receiving individual attention, advice or suggestions from teaching or administrative staff. Other times, it may be helpful to direct the student to appropriate on-campus resources, such as the Academic Planning Center, Special Needs Support Services, and Human Rights Advisors. It is not uncommon that students confess serious personal problems that may be emotionally overwhelming to professors. In such cases, the counseling center offers consultation to faculty and administrative staff members and explores effective interventions together.

Some students may be resistant to the idea of seeing a counselor at first, perhaps due either to the stigma regarding mental health or negative prior experiences with mental health professionals. Eichler (2006) suggests that ambivalence about treatment among university students reflects a general ambivalence of late adolescence in the midst of a developmental challenge of separation-individuation. Thus, students may be resistant to the idea of entering a dependency-heavy relationship with adults. It is important to acknowledge their anxiety about counseling and respect their need to maintain privacy. However, normalizing students’ struggles and gently encouraging visits to the counseling center may facilitate future help-seeking behaviors.

Despite the high volume of counseling visits, many students still consider it a hurdle to make the first contact with the counseling center. From a student survey conducted for the 50th anniversary of ICU counseling center, it was found that although many students were interested in seeing a counselor, only one-third of them actually sought help (Sakamoto, 2014). Many of the survey participants stated that they should handle the problem on their own, they were too busy, or they did not know how to use the counseling center.

For reluctant or ambivalent help-seekers, it is often helpful if a professor calls the counseling center to make a referral while with the student, easing their initial anxiety. It also helps to accompany him/her to visit the center together to make the first appointment if possible.

At ICU Counseling Center, a student’s information is kept confidential. With a student’s consent to release information, ongoing collaborative support with faculty or administrative staff is provided throughout the counseling process. It is our duty to make our services more accessible to all the ICU members in order to promote the wellbeing of students, preventing and treating mental health difficulties.

Contact: ICU Counseling Center (DH 2F – 3499)

References

ICU Counseling Center. (2016). Counseling Visits in 2014. ICU Counseling Center Annual Report, 22, 12-23.

Eichler, Richard, J. (2006). Developmental considerations. In Paul A. Grayson (Ed.), College metal health practice (pp.24-41). New York, NY: Routledge.

Girard, Kristine, A. (2010). Working with parents and families of young adults. In Kay, J., & Schwarts, V. (Eds.), Mental health care in the college community (pp. 179-202). United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Iwata, S., Hayashi, J., Sato, J., & Okano, H. (2016). A Report on the Survey about Student Counseling Institutions in 2015. Japanese Journal of Student Counseling, 36 (3), 209-262.

Sakamoto, K. (2014). ICU Kaunseringu Sentaa Ankeito Kekka Houkoku [Report on student survey on ICU Counseling Center]. ICU Counseling Center Annual Report 23, 12-17.

Tsuru, H. (1980). Kokusai Kirisutokyou Daigakuno Gakuseini Taisuru Kaunseringu Katsudouno Suii [History of ICU student counseling services]. Report of ICU Counseling Center 1, 2-6.

Watanabe, A. (2016). ICU Kaunseringu Sentaa Ni Okeru Kinnen Ryuugakuseino Niizu To Sono Shien Kadai [Needs of recent foreign students and challenges for counselors at ICU counseling center]. ICU Counseling Center Annual Report 25, 3-7.