When students living in University of Oregon residence halls test positive for COVID-19, they are transported to Barnhart Hall for isolation or quarantine. With some students isolating for weeks, they are told upon arrival that the UO counseling center is there to help them.
Arriving students speak with a Corona Corps team member who asks them if they would like services from the counseling center. The center then reaches out to them and confirms an appointment.
“We’ve met with students just to share, so they can express whatever feelings or reactions are coming up for them,” said Marko Lin, counseling center education and prevention outreach director. “Because isolation is really hard for that long period of time, and to be away from their friends and family.”
Once counseling services have confirmed the appointment, they will match the students with a therapist. Lin said a “brief therapy model” is used, meaning that students typically use five to eight sessions, which is about a term’s worth. However, Lin said the number of sessions is flexible and students can do less or more, depending on their preference.
According to a 2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, 40% of adults reported struggling with mental health issues including anxiety and depression, substance use and suicidal thoughts. The study also found that young adults and racial minorities experienced disproportionately worse outcomes.
Given the mental strain for some students of adjusting to college life and living away from home, Lin said that adding isolation into that mix can make things more difficult.
“How do they even meet people to find their place that they can call home at this university? It makes it even worse when you’re going to need to isolate yourself in a residence hall that’s farther off-campus,” said Lin. “I think all of those things are magnifying that sense of disconnection that students are feeling through this pandemic.”
Only around half of the students seeking counseling services followed through with their virtual therapy sessions. But Lin said that the counseling center reaching out more directly has opened the door for students who had been interested in therapy for reasons unrelated to isolation.
“I think there’s something to be said about the mental health stigmas or making that first phone call or you know, pre-COVID, walking up to the counseling service and scheduling an appointment I think is scary for a lot of students for a lot of cultural reasons or family reasons,” she said. “When we call them, ‘Hey we’ll schedule an appointment with you,’ I think there’s some sort of warm transfer.”
Lin said she has been proud of the way virtual therapy for all students, not just those in isolation, has been working at the university so far, but that therapists were skeptical of remote sessions at first. They, including herself, believed it would negatively affect therapeutic relationships, but that didn’t end up being the case, she said.
Because students are typically in their rooms for sessions, therapists are able to get a unique insight into their clients’ rooms from things such as posters and decorations. It has added a new dimension to therapy, and Lin has enjoyed seeing student’s personalities.
“You get a sense of students in ways that would have never happened when they enter my office space,” said Lin. “I’ve really enjoyed that, but you know, there are some pieces where nonverbals can get lost and that’s what I miss when they’re not in the room.”
With the unique insights and easy accessibility, Lin believes teletherapy is here to stay beyond the pandemic and she is excited about that prospect.
“I don’t think we’re going back,” she said. “I think teletherapy is going to be an option for students and even for therapists in the community from here on out.”
Lin said that teletherapy sessions are available to all students and UO is trying to make those services easily accessible.
Wellness workshops are held weekly to help students deal with stress and anxiety management and Let’s Talk sessions, which provide an informal, private consultation with counseling service staff.
More than a year into the pandemic, Lin encourages students to seek help if they need it and take this time as a learning experience. “I always want the student to consider — what are they learning from this challenge?” said Lin. “I want it to be more of a reframing of ‘this isn’t ideal, and yet, how can I make the best of the situation? What am I learning about myself through this experience?’”
