The counseling center prioritizes student well-being.
The counseling center at Minnesota State University, Mankato provides a wide range of help and services to students seeking assistance. Online and walk-in services are available in the form of counseling sessions and workshops. These services aim at helping students learn how to understand and successfully cope with challenges impacting them in their personal and academic lives.
Kari Much, the department chair of the counseling center here at MSU, stressed the importance of students reaching out and seeking assistance for the ongoing crises in their lives by coming to the counseling center.
“College is when a lot of mental illnesses and issues start coming out, especially for students that haven’t experienced any mental health issues and concerns in the past and so for them, once that starts playing out in the middle of college, that can be really difficult to deal with and manage on top of studies,” said Much. “So, our office is here to help students manage their mental health issues so they can then be successful academically.”
The counseling center is devoted to providing a safe space for students where they can voice their concerns and issues without facing any judgment.
“Confidentiality is imperative here so students that come to the counseling center are completely in control of any information that they share here,” said Much.
Services provided by the counseling center aid in enabling students to build resilience to academic pressures and improve their academic performance by timely managing their academic workloads. It teaches them how to deal effectively with challenges and overcome difficult situations and obstacles.
Helping alleviate and resolve concerns of students struggling with issues that are impacting their day-to-day functionality is one of their main focuses.
“Any student who would like any service can simply walk in. It’s an opportunity to talk with a provider about what’s going on in their lives and discuss anything that’s causing them to not live their best life,” said Much.
“It could be anything that’s causing them not to function properly. It could be that their academics are not going well, or their relationships are not going well and so whatever it is we will help and recommend services to them accordingly,” added Much when explaining how the counseling center helps students navigate through difficult life situations.
In addition to counseling services, the counseling center also has workshops that are centered around improving students’ well being and addressing a lot of common problems that most college students face like stress, anxiety, and depression. These workshops run every three weeks and the sessions are currently open for registration. The counseling center is a resource students at MSU can utilize with services available for free to all students.
Header Photo: The Counseling Center in the Cenntenial Student Union room 285 is open to any and all MSU students. This center is there to aid students who seek support for any issues such as mental health. (Julia Barton/The Reporter)
Write to Hafsa Peerzada at Syedahafsa.peerzada@mnsu.edu