Students’ stress relief is not far away

College creates stress for students in many ways from day to day. It could be one day finding parking is tougher and the next an essay is due. Maybe midterms are approaching and there doesn’t seem to be enough time to study for all of one’s classes.
So where do students go to relieve some of these worries?
Currently enrolled students who are attending classes can sign up for the psychological services program in L-108 for free.
According to the psychological services pamphlet, the philosophy of the program is “committed to helping college students increase their awareness, knowledge, and resources in order to successfully meet the challenges of encountering new ideas, relating to others from diverse backgrounds, and coping with the transitions of adulthood.”
Next to the front desk you can find this pamphlet and an array of others. There are pamphlets to help students deal with procrastination, self-esteem, final exams, stress, depression, and suicide prevention. There are also several magazine selections.
They also offer one-on-one personal counseling for any reason ranging from academic problems to personal issues someone might be having in their home life, Counseling Psychologist Richard Beyer said.
“It doesn’t have to be related to PCC… It could be a relationship issue,” Beyer said. “It could be problems with parents, spouse. It could be anything like that.”
But Beyer is not the only one available to talk with. There is also four pre-doctorate interns that do personal counseling.
“We see students on an individual basis to try to help them out with either personal growth, home problems, mental health problems, and anything that kind of gets in the way of being a successful student,” intern Erica Phillips said. “We try to help them weed through that so that they can be at their best here.”
And if there is any worry about information leaving the office, there is no need because everything that is discussed is confidential.
“What I like to say is not even the president of the college can get into our records,” Beyer said. “They don’t go on your transcript…They don’t follow you at any other school. Not unless you want those records to follow you and then you sign a release or we just give you the records and you can take them.”
Students interested in getting counseling can attend eight sessions for every semester and six for the summer session. The office is open at 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every Monday through Friday.