Therapists in the field of college mental health counseling commonly voice an ambivalent orientation towards the utilization of formal psychological diagnostic systems yet often use diagnostic terms. Knowledge of the current and emerging diagnostic systems may contribute to greater syntheses of these differing approaches. This article will first…

On February 17, 2014, Dr. Jonathan Perry, former director of counseling at the University of Arkansas, sparked a lively debate on the listserv of the Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors (AUCCCD) by warning about the likelihood and dangers of underdiagnosing borderline II disorder. Standing out among the many…

Many have observed the increasing severity of mental distress among college students over the past several decades. Very little, however, has been said about what has contributed to this increase. The purpose of this opinion piece is to highlight a trend that the author has witnessed as director of a university counseling center and social justice…

Yeshiva University established a counseling center during the 2004-2005 academic year. As a religiously based institution, the administration recognized that there would likely be significant impediments to utilization of on-campus mental health services as a result of negative attitudes about mental illness and its treatment--stigma. To combat…

Campus police officers are often among the initial contacts for behavioral incidents involving people with mental illness. Their training and access to resources influence decisions to direct the individual to support services and/or through campus disciplinary processes and/or the criminal justice system. Over the past decade, there has been an…

This study explores the utility of a dual-factor model of mental health in which the concepts of mental illness and mental wellness are integrated. Life satisfaction, emotional symptoms, personal adjustment, and clinical symptoms were assessed with a sample of 240 college students. Participants were organized into four groups based on levels of…

University counseling centers are faced with the challenge of effectively treating bipolar students while also utilizing brief treatment frameworks and managing high patient volumes. Potential destabilization, particularly within the elevated mood phase, poses significant behavioral management issues for university clinicians and administrators,…

Behavioral and mental health issues challenge institutions of higher education with difficult decisions around response. Interests of the individual and safety of the community must be constantly considered and balanced. A primary way institutions of higher education are responding to these challenges is through the formation of campus assessment…

This article focuses on the complex nature of eating disorders, specifically highlighting their use as coping mechanisms for underlying emotional and psychological concerns. Case examples of college counseling center clients are discussed in order to illustrate common ways in which eating disorders are utilized by clients with varying…

College can provide a transition from interdependence to differentiation in the family. With recent trends and legal cases that document increasing complexity and severity of mental health problems in college, it is important to consider the family as a partner in the therapeutic process. This article delineates a rationale, guidelines, and…

In the past couple of decades, there have been numerous claims made about the increasing severity of college student mental health issues. While the question of increasing severity seems to be well documented by the perception-based surveys of university counseling center directors, very limited data exists to prove that this trend is actually…

This article reviews the topic of college student suicide. Empirical and theoretical studies are reviewed. The research is presented in distinct sections. First, we present background information on college student suicide emphasized in a select number of cited literature reviews, followed by a review of a select number of key quantitative studies…

This study examined whether a new student organization, Active Minds, aimed at increasing awareness of "mental illness" and reducing stigma had an impact on students' stigma and willingness to seek psychological help. Three classes were recruited to become involved in the organization. In a pretest/posttest design, stigma and willingness to seek…

This article examines some common assumptions made by clinicians about the relationship between intelligence and mental health difficulties. Drawing on work by Thomas Ogden (1976) and Alex Coren (1997) on academically successful students who present with serious mental health concerns, it aims to provide a psychodynamic, developmental…

This article presents how the Valparaiso University Student Counseling and Development Center (SCDC) developed and delivers a combined service treatment model integrating pharmacotherapy with psychotherapy for a subset of the center's clients evidencing significant psychiatric concerns. To explicate the model, several documents that may be of…