The Counseling Center’s spring semester group therapy meetings began last week, led by Kylene Kindred. One group will focus on anxiety and stress management and the other will focus on grief.
Among the other mental health support resources the Counseling Center offers, these groups have the unique ability for students to empathize with and learn from one another in ways that one-on-one therapy cannot.
Craig Cochran, director of the Counseling Center, spoke to the benefits of group therapy.
“I think you realize you’re not alone, that other students may be struggling with some of the same things and there’s an opportunity to glean some ideas off of what they’re doing to help their own mental health care,” Cochran said.
These meetings are sign-up based and usually have about four to ten people. Cochran also plans to facilitate more of his “Conversations with Craig” discussions this semester, where he will do more informal visits to different dorms some evenings and work through topics suggested by Residence Hall Directors.
He aims to meet people in their own spaces, in relaxed and more comfortable environments. Cochran said that these non-sign-up events have ranged from groups of 20 to 60 people in the past, and students have fewer obstacles preventing them from attending as the events are one-time events and take place after classes are over.
Outside of the professional help the Taylor University Counseling Center offers, PAX, the student-run cabinet for mental health initiatives, also provides events and services for students to find community in the mental health issues they struggle with.
Nathan Miller, PAX President and senior psychology major, explained that PAX’s main role is to make mental health information available, raise awareness and encourage conversations that promote vulnerability and create spaces for people to find others who struggle with the same things.
Miller emphasized that the cabinet wants to create events that are relevant and helpful to students. Because they are a newer cabinet without traditional annual events, Miller said they have the unique ability to adapt and create events that are relevant to the needs of the student body and needed resources as what students are struggling with or requesting may change yearly.
He encouraged students to be genuine with one another by praying for each other and doing little things that show care. To him, it is not about saying the right thing, but students supporting and being in the presence of one another.
“Our events can start change, but it's the stuff that happens after the events (that matters),” Miller said. “The most we can do is encourage people and inform people, but at the end of the day, it's really up to the people and the individual…to speak up or reach out.”
Hoping to provide space for students to make those connections, PAX has already developed two spring events. The first will be.. an Eating Disorder Panel set for March 6th and the second is the “rage room” event rescheduled from Fall semester will be March 14th.
Kayla Smits, a junior social work major shared her experience with anxiety and mental health management, demonstrating how these conversations with friends that show intentionality are helpful.
“It's nice to have other people to talk to,” Smits said. “Talking through something with somebody helps it to not feel as overwhelming because it's not just a bunch of thoughts constantly rolling around in my head. I have a way to express it and kind of get it out of me.”
Likewise, Zoe Moser, a freshman psychology major, encouraged students to experience events like group counseling after finding help in her friends who shared in her grief. She said that though experiences are different and vary, this group helped her and brought her closer to them.
“It was really difficult, but it definitely was a blessing (to share her struggles) ... because we were all going through the same thing and it was comforting,” Moser said.
