By Alyssa Allemand and Santi Elbow
Edgewood College’s Personal Counseling Services has recently added a new program called “Let’s Talk.”
According to the Counseling Service’s website, “Let’s Talk” is an “off-site walk-in model” of counseling that was created by Cornell University. It is a nationally recognized program and has been adapted by 50 colleges nationwide.
The program “is a drop-in service that offers informal, confidential dialogue with an Edgewood College Personal Counseling Services consultant,” the website says. Consultants go to locations on Edgewood’s campus to hold walk-in hours throughout the academic year.
“Let’s Talk” provides one-on-one counseling for students in the Edgewood College community who may feel there is a stigma around asking for help by going into the Wellness Center.
The article “Let’s Talk: Getting out of the Counseling Center to Serve Hard-to-Reach Students” says that “Let’s Talk” is designed to make Personal Counseling more comfortable for students and spread positivity about seeking guidance from counselors. A link to this article is attached to Edgewood’s Personal Counseling website.
Students are encouraged to use “Let’s Talk” if they are unsure about counseling, need input about a specific situation, or want advice on how to help a friend they’re concerned about.
“Let’s Talk” is not intended to replace a traditional counseling session. It is first come, first serve – no appointment necessary. The meetings are free. Sessions can vary in length, lasting from ten minutes to an hour.
Most of the students who visit personal counseling come with the intent of meeting with a counselor about a variety of topics that bother them, such as anxiety, depression, or interpersonal concerns. Director of Personal Counseling Services Megan Cobb said, “There have been other subjects from students including substance abuse, discrimination, and the list goes on.”
Cobb is hopeful more students will utilize Personal Counseling’s services. “The last graduating class statistics show that 16 percent of them used Personal Counseling’s services at some point in their academic year, but nationally that number would be 10 percent,” she said.
Along with “Let’s Talk,” Edgewood’s Personal Counseling Services adopted another program from Cornell University called “Counselor-In-Residence.” This program is used by counselors to contact and speak to students over the phone rather than face-to-face.
There is a total of four counselors working at Edgewood College. Some of which are from UW Madison, working to finish their Ph.D. programs in psychology. Two of the counselors are full-time and the other two are part-time.
For more information, visit Edgewood’s Personal Counseling website: https://counseling.edgewood.edu/. Personal Counseling Services is located in Dominican Hall on the first floor.
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