On-campus Services Provide Counseling and Accommodations for Students

Fatigue. Difficulty concentrating. Insomnia. Sadness. Shifts in diet. Changes in eating habits. Feelings of worthlessness and guilt.

These are all signs of depression.

About 44% of college students report experiencing a symptom of depression or anxiety, according to the Mayo Clinic Health System.

Resident Counselor for Student Counseling Services Sam Landa said depression and anxiety are prominent in college students because they are adjusting to a new life. Everything around them is new – their friends, their living space, their community, their classes and their professors. Students are not always prepared to deal with that, and as Christians, many do not want to face the reality of depression.

“If we go through the Psalms, we see kind of these characteristics and these hard callings from the psalmists, saying how they’re in this desperate moment,” Landa said, explaining how Christians are not exempt from depression. “The difference, I think, for Christians is what do they turn to? In depression, people turn to different things, so for a Christian, when they’re depressed, the natural inclination is to want to get rid of the depression, because they’ll feel that something is wrong between them and God.”

Landa said the important thing for believers is to not dismiss their pain and their sadness but to rely on God to give them hope and lighten their load. 

Counselors in the Student Counseling Services implement a Christian perspective into their practice if that is what the client wants. Landa said he gets to walk with students in their journey and help support them as a brother in Christ. 

Each counselor at the Student Counseling Services has a master’s in counseling and each one brings different specializations and training to the table. They try to pair students with a counselor who will be a good fit for them and what they are experiencing.

Clinical Services Coordinator Victoria Jacob says a student’s first appointment is considered an intake appointment during which they sit down with a counselor and discuss what they are experiencing and what they need help with. The counselor then connects the student with the best resource for them, such as individual counseling or process groups. 

The Office of Disability Accommodation Support (ODAS) offers accommodations for students with a mental health diagnosis. According to Residential Associate Director Jana Whitney, their goal is to help students find ways to make school more manageable during a hard diagnosis. 

To set up accommodations, students need to provide documentation identifying their diagnosis to ODAS. From there, an advisor will sit down and discuss what is challenging them and what might improve the situation. 

“We determine accommodations on a student-by-student basis, so there’s not a set of accommodations,” Whitney said.

Some common accommodations include extra testing time, testing in a quiet environment and extensions on assignments.

After specific accommodations are determined, ODAS informs their professors and points them towards other helpful resources such as mentoring, tutoring, Student Counseling Services and LU Shepherds.

For more information about accommodations, students can visit ODAS in DeMoss Hall in room 1264 or go to liberty.edu/disability-support. 

Jacob said that Student Counseling Services are in the process of creating a website called ThrivingCampus where students can find a counselor or resource in their hometown as well as in Lynchburg. She said they hope to have it finished in the next couple weeks. For more information, students can visit liberty.thrivingcampus.com. 

Similar to ThrivingCampus, the Global Center for Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery launched through Liberty. Executive Director Dr. Tim Clinton said the center will be a database for education, training, resources, research and awareness for mental health. 

Clinton is the president of The American Association of Christian Counselors. They will be combining their knowledge and resources with those from Liberty. According to Clinton, they have also partnered with a variety of professionals across the United States to help them create this foundation of mental health and faith. He said it will take them a while to get to where they hope to be.

“There’s a silence and shame and stigma around mental health not only in the community at large but also inside the church,” he said. 

He wants this center to help educate the church and push them to step onto the difficult road of caring for those who are struggling.

“People are hurting. When people are hurting, they’re most open to change in their life,” Clinton said. “It’s at that moment, the church needs, I think, to respond and be in that with a message of hope and help.”

They hope it can not only be a starting point for those hurting to find some help, but also a place where professionals are trained and educated in every area of mental health.

Associate Director Dr. Ron Hawkins said they are partnering with different schools at Liberty to help bring research and resources in the physiological, psychological and theological components to depression and other mental health issues. 

“We have all of these resources at Liberty that can be beneficial … in looking at this crisis that we’re facing globally at this time,” Hawkins said. “Here are all of these people, all of these connections, bringing those together for educational training, for awareness, [and] for research is the goal.”

Students can find more information at liberty.edu/mental-health. 

Family members, friends and roommates who notice signs of depression in those around them can help them by being aware and pointing those facing depression towards resources.

“You’re one of the first people they come to as a roommate or friend in college, that they’re telling their story to,” Jacob said. “We’re not asking students to counsel, but to help support them and be there in the process and educate them on what [getting help is] going to look like.” 

Landa echoed Jacob’s statements and emphasized the importance of listening. 

“Just listening makes a big difference,” Landa said. “A lot of people who struggle with depression don’t feel like they’re heard or that they’ve been listened to, or that their sadness, in a sense, has just been kind of glossed over and not really addressed.”

Fitch is a news reporter. Follow her on Twitter at @charity_elise_.