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A photo of scrabble words assembled to spell \"anxiety\"
A photo of scrabble words assembled to spell \"anxiety\"
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Wellness > Mental Health

The Importance of Mental Health Services at Rowan University

Julianna Holshue
Destiny Hall
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Rowan chapter.

Trigger Warning: SI, mention of suicide, mental health, and other sensitive subjects will be discussed in this article.

The recent events that have occurred at Rowan have been tragic, to say the least. I wish that I had been able to know those who have passed, but I encourage those that have to remember them and honor their lives. 

I want to share my story because I hope it will inspire others to take the first, most important step, which is to ask for help. I understand how difficult and scary it can be. I know sometimes small acts of self-care such as journaling, talking to a friend, or enjoying a cup of tea is not enough to help.

I understand this because two years ago none of these things helped.

But what did help was a professional mental health care provider, or more specifically, a therapist who specialized in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. There are many different types of therapists and other mental health care providers, and I recommend doing some research into finding out which health care provider, as well as which type of therapy would suit your needs the best. Before I continue, I understand that two years ago I was in a position where I was able to find and afford a therapist to help me with my anxiety and OCD, and I know this is not feasible for everybody. And this is where I would like to discuss the mental health services at Rowan University.

The mental health resources a college offers its students can be amazing for a student’s mental health. However, last semester I was unsure if this was the case at Rowan because, given the resources that were offered at the time, it seemed mental health was more of an afterthought than a priority when it came to a student’s well-being on campus. However, in light of recent developments, which I will further discuss in more detail, I am hopeful that the new wellness resources offered on campus are a right step in the direction towards improvement.

To preface, many times I have heard the individual therapy sessions at Rowan are difficult to get because there are simply not enough available times or counselors. From this, one can see Rowan needs to improve their overall mental health services by providing more counselors. Many at Rowan have voiced this opinion and now it seems we are beginning to be heard. According to a university-wide email from Rowan’s president, Ali A. Houshmand, the Wellness Center is expanding its “Let’s Talk” sessions which allow students to confidentiality and briefly talk with a counselor one-on-one, and this is a great start.

 In addition to this, this email further detailed that a University Committee for Well-Being has been formed under the guidance of the University Senate President, Bill Freind and Vice President for Student Affairs, Rory McElwee. This committee will allow staff and students to communicate on well-being initiatives. I feel Rowan students will welcome these changes in hopes of improving emotional and mental health on campus. Other programs for well-being were described, but I would like to highlight the following two which I find to be critical, which are the Suicide Prevention Training and the “Toward a Thriving University Workshops”. First, I am glad to see that the Suicide Prevention Training is available to both staff and students, which I believe is important because I feel Rowan’s dialogue around suicide should be as open as possible, and I feel both parties will benefit from this open opportunity. I myself am interested in participating in one of these sessions to better educate myself on how to help my fellow Rowan students who may be struggling. Lastly, I feel the “Toward a Thriving University Workshops” is appropriate because I feel our campus community has more to say regarding how mental health is responded to and treated on campus. Two workshops will be held on the following Fridays, March 6th and April 3rd from 2:00- through 3:15 p.m. in the Chamberlain Student Center, Eynon Ballroom. If you would like to further discuss mental health services and well-being on this campus, then I encourage you to attend these dialogues.

Moreover, I still feel that more improvements can be made. For instance, I have heard from students that Rowan heavily encourages students to participate in online resources and group therapy, as opposed to in-person, individual therapy sessions. Now, this is somewhat understandable given how understaffed the Wellness Center is, despite how much the university boasts they are on the high end of the student-to-counselor college ratio. It is clear that because so many students are essentially waiting for help, there are not enough staff members, and this is a big problem. Returning to the push for group therapy, even if one goes to seek help from group therapy, one is not even guaranteed that the group will meet, as my friend has experienced this problem this semester with her anxiety and stress group. Not to mention, as someone who is reluctant to participate in group therapy, I wonder if any other students feel the same as I do. I feel the “me” two years ago would probably be too anxious to discuss what I was experiencing in front of my peers. And perhaps, I’m not the only person who would feel this way. And this is where I can see some improvements can be made.

Now, I understand that group therapy can be very beneficial and ideal for people, however, what about the people who can’t attend the meetings, or feel group therapy is not the type of help that would be the best for them? Are they being neglected in some way? I believe the staff at the Wellness Center want to help students, however I believe they do not have enough resources from the college to provide students with the mental health care that they all deserve. I am aware that if the wellness staff is unable to provide care they will try to recommend other resources and will refer students out to professionals who will be able to provide them with care. I am sure this has greatly benefited those who were able to seek and receive care outside of the university, however, what if one’s only option for mental health care is through one’s university, what happens next?

There has to be a way in which people who want individual therapy sessions can get access to them on campus. So, how can this happen? Well, it seems many more licensed therapists and counselors need to be hired, and I don’t think adding one or two more counselors will make the difference that our college community needs. As I have heard that the Wellness Center is starting to get crowded, I wonder if another building needs to be built that is solely dedicated to mental health services to accommodate our growing mental health resources, professionals, and student body. This new building would be ideal, but this is not something that will be able to happen overnight. And it is apparent that we need a solution sooner. And I’m not going to pretend I have the perfect solution, but I think I do know something that might help. I think that we, the Rowan student body, can rally together and demand more effort and resources to be put into improving the mental health services at Rowan University. We can speak up and demand changes that will improve the lives of Rowan students and staff, because mental health is just as important as physical health, and as a community, it is vital that we support one another in getting the mental health care we deserve.

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Julianna is a writer, artist, and mental health advocate. She graduated from Rowan University in 2020 with a BA in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She was the Fall 2o2o Media Editor for Glassworks Magazine, a publication of Rowan University's Master of Arts in Writing. In her free time, she enjoys baking desserts for her family, adding to her sticker collection, and listening to spooky stories.
Destiny is currently enrolled in Columbia University's MFA Writing program. She is a national writer at Her Campus and the former editor-in-chief of Her Campus Rowan. She likes thrifting, romance novels, cooking shows, and can often be found binging documentaries.