College provides for therapeutic needs

College students often have a wide variety of challenges and issues that can be difficult to deal with alone. They deal with time management issues, stressful environments, social interactions, academic expectations, separation from family and friends, peer pressure situations and many other difficult emotional circumstances. Many Adrian College students find their way to the Sage Counseling Center, located on the top floor of the Caine Student Center, to help them deal with some of these issues.

According to Monique Savage, director of counseling services at AC, there is a diverse group of students who seek advice and help from the counseling center. She explains that many freshmen are dealing with the transition from high school to college, and the challenges of being separated from family and friends back home.

“The top three issues that we’ve dealt with are depression, anxiety and relationships,” Savage said.

Statistically, Savage said about two-thirds of the students seen in Sage are female and about one-third are male. Sessions typically last fifty minutes and she does not see more than five or six students per day. There are two counselors that work within the Sage Counseling Center, Savage and Michael Snyder-Barker.

“Michael specializes in anger management and alcoholism,” said Savage. “I’ve learned a lot from him and I believe that we both bring our own strengths to the center.”

She said it is important to have a female and a male counselor because different students have different comfort levels, depending on gender.

“It may be easier for females to relate to females and males to relate to males, and vice versa,” Savage said.

“It’s not a bad thing to go to counseling,” said one student. “I go because it’s a way to express myself and explain my feelings to someone else. Having a therapeutic relationship is much different than telling my mom something that I’m dealing with.”

Students seem to feel that the counselors at the Sage Counseling Center are understanding and good listeners.

“By going to counseling, I am able to independently think about my problems without being ashamed of them,” said the student. “I like knowing that I have someone to vent to and it’s completely confidential.”

Tags: counseling, sage counseling center, therapy

This entry was posted on Friday, April 23rd, 2010 at 1:43 pm and is filed under News, Top Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.