This case study describes 1 international student's treatment experience with an integrated health program on a college campus. This program uses a multidisciplinary, mind-body approach, which incorporates individual counseling, primary care, psychiatric consultation, a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy class, and a meditation group. T oday's college counseling centers are being used by students who have mental health concerns that are increasingly severe and accompanied by symptoms that threaten academic success and retention (Benton, Robertson, Tseng, Newton, & Benton, 2003;Gallagher, 2007). According to the 2007 National Survey of Counseling Center Directors (Gallagher, 2007), 91% of the 272 college counseling center directors who were surveyed reported a growing trend of students experiencing more severe psychological problems (Gallagher, 2007). Directors indicated that 49% of clients are experiencing severe psychological difficulties, with 7.5% confronting symptoms so serious that they either cannot stay in school or can only do so with extensive mental health support (Gallagher, 2007). Furthermore, in one study, 18% of college undergraduates seriously considered a suicide attempt in their lives, with 6% seriously considering an attempt within the past year (Drum, Brownson, Burton, & Smith, 2008). Addressing these concerns is one responsibility of contemporary counseling centers.Meeting the needs of international students using effective, appropriate, and culturally responsive methods is also an important responsibility for counseling centers. Sometimes this important goal requires that staff members reexamine the service delivery models used to meet the needs of international students to increase their access to services (Yi, Lin, & Kishimoto, 2003). For example, one way of responding to such diverse needs is to provide multiple points of entry for mental health services. In an integrated health care system, students can access both health and mental health services in a primary care setting, thus decreasing the possible barrier of stigma present in many cultures that are associated with stand-alone mental health treatment. Furthermore, the respect accorded to the medical profession within some cultures tends to increase the palatability of mental health treatment within the health care context. Cary Tucker, Sarah K. Sloan, and Mary Vance, Counseling and Mental Health Center and University Health Services, and Chris Brownson, Counseling and Mental Health Center, all From an integrated health care perspective, primary care is a crucial environment in which to provide mental health services. As much as 75% of primary care appointments are related to mental health needs (Levant, 2005), and 55% of individuals experiencing mental health disorders are treated in primary care (Wang et al., 2005). In turn, we believe that primary care is an ideal environment for mental health providers to partner with medical teams, not only to provide more responsive and accessible mental health services to patients but also ...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.