By Lexi Chitwood
Since 2016, Edgewood College’s personal counseling policy has changed from unlimited sessions to a maximum of 10 per semester. However, there is no limit to urgent or group care.
Before these limitations were put in place, students could see a counselor once a week for their entire academic career if need be.
Even with the session limits in place, a student will always be able to get help with Personal Counseling. “We’ll never turn away someone in crisis,” said Director of Personal Counseling Megan Cobb-Sheehan. “We’re never going to be like, ‘Oh it’s session 10, bye.’ Around session 5 or 6 we’re already talking about plans for going off campus.”
She said some of the most important things to consider with off-campus entities are the price, location, and if they have a waitlist. They take measures to make sure that students who want extra counseling can access it.
“Session limits in college counseling tend to be the norm nationally,” Cobb-Sheehan said. “Though I see a ton of benefits with longer-term care, most centers have moved to a session limit policy over the last 10-15 years in an effort to better manage the high demand for services.”
Cobb-Sheehan said she has mixed feelings about the session limit. “I see pros and cons to it,” she said. “I think we’re probably getting more, different students in, but for fewer sessions.”
The average number of counseling sessions that students attend is about four. Research shows that most benefits for therapy happen in those first four sessions.
“Our hope is that most students, their needs can be met within those 10 sessions, plus group, or urgent care if they want or need those services,” said Cobb-Sheehan. “It’s just really important for us to refer elsewhere when more is needed.”
Cobb-Sheehan said the reason for the policy revision “was increasing numbers of appointments and low staffing…We’re lucky to have a lot of institutional support and I feel that Personal Counseling Services is highly valued by students and the college.”
“At the same time, it just hasn’t been in the college’s budget to increase our number of counselors,” Cobb-Sheehan added.
“We were getting to the point where we were seeing seven students pretty much every day, even me as director,” Cobb-Sheehan said. “We’d be getting here early and staying late, and it just got to the point where we were like, ‘this just isn’t sustainable.’”
Personal Counseling had a reputation for being consistently booked. Students who required urgent care felt like they were intruding because they knew they would be interrupting another student’s appointment.
The demand for personal counseling appointments has been on the rise across many college campuses, according to Cobb-Sheehan. “Increasing appointments and increasing urgent care or crisis appointments–it’s not just us,” she said. “It’s most campuses that are feeling this need for more counselors.”
The percentage of students who came to Personal Counseling from last year’s graduating class was above average. The average percentage is typically around 10%, while this cohort had 16% participation.
Personal Counseling currently employs two full-time counselors, including Cobb-Sheehan, as well as two doctoral practical clinicians from UW-Madison, studying in the Counseling Psychology program. The clinicians work part-time.
Appointments can be made by calling (608) 663-4148, or at the reception desk in Dominican 122.
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