College can be incredibly mentally taxing. You have to live independently, make new friends, support yourself, discover your path in life, and manage your grades all at the same time. Any one of these pressures could cause someone to want to seek help, but mix them all together and I’m surprised that every college student doesn’t have a therapist.
In my early life, I never struggled with mental illness or thought that I’d need something like therapy. I had the average person’s amount of stress and pressure and I could manage it well and never thought twice about it. My sophomore year of college was truly a turning point for my mental health.
I was living away from home for the first time, having a test every other week for nursing school, and I wasn’t performing as well as I hoped I would. I wasn’t dealing with my stress because I wasn’t acknowledging that it was there. I thought what I was feeling was normal because everyone in my program was talking about how stressed they were all the time. I thought everyone felt like bursting into tears every night, that they weren’t feeling at peace in their surroundings, or that they were having imposter syndrome in their program. I never would have guessed that that would be the onset of my generalized anxiety. It took me a long time and a lot of conversations with my roommates until someone advocated that I seek out a therapist for my problems.
I didn’t even know where to start. I knew from ads that BetterHelp is often suggested for college students because it’ll find a therapist for you, so I looked into that. I found that their program is not as expensive compared to the flat rate of a therapist, it was a lot of money for a college student to pay for their first therapy session. I realized pretty quickly that therapy might be outside my price range and that I may not be able to access it.
After discovering that some therapists take insurance, I decided to go down that route so that I could cut down the cost of a session. This was the hardest part of the whole process. It’s difficult to find websites that will match you with people who take your insurance, and even then you have to scroll through them and find someone you’re interested in and hope they have openings. I found that Psychology Today was the easiest-to-use website with the largest catalog of providers. You can search them based on area, whether you want to meet online, what kind of help you’re seeking, and if they take your insurance or not.
Getting in contact with my therapist was easy and they responded the same week and I had my first appointment the week after. Not everyone meshes with their therapist right away, and that’s okay. It’s important to not write off the whole process right away because the therapist you found may not be the best one for you. I’ve had friends go through three therapists before they found one that they meshed with. The whole idea of therapy is for you to talk to someone and work through your problems, it’s all about you. Don’t let a bad provider or one that isn’t helping you in the way you want to hold you back from bettering yourself.
Luckily for me, I love my therapist. I look forward to our meetings and they always advocate for me and make sure that I feel seen, heard, and better about my decisions. I am therapy’s biggest cheerleader and will push everyone and anyone to sign up for it. It doesn’t matter the scope that you perceive your problems, you could even just want someone to talk to about all the drama in your life and give unbiased advice. I’m here for de-stigmatizing therapy, and whether you’re worried about your mental health or not, you should definitely try therapy and your university health center is always there for you!
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