Institutions are experiencing overwhelming demand in their counseling centers. While many have invested more resources to the counseling center, it’s clear that simply hiring more counselors is not a sustainable—or even the best—solution. The infrastructure for mental health care on most campuses does not fully leverage the range of non-clinical resources for mental health or well-being support.
A stepped care model for mental health and well-being support incorporates a network of resources—from self-serve learning modules to meditation workshops to one-on-one therapy—allowing students to step up or step down the intensity of care as needed. This student-centric model helps students access effective care quickly.
By adopting a stepped model of mental health care, you can expand students’ perceptions of what constitutes mental health and well-being support, promote campus supports alongside traditional mental health resources, and maximize existing campus resources. Map campus mental health and well-being resources organized by level of intensity and level or resources needed (e.g., staff time, cost) with this guide.
Don’t rely on a “build it and they will come” mentality for self-serve mental health and well-being resources. Utilization of self-serve resources often lags for a variety of reasons: they might not align with students’ expectations for individual therapy, they can feel generic or impersonal, and they lack structure and accountability.
Make self-serve resources feel more personalized and formal. Consider using a “behavioral prescription pad” (modeled off a medical prescription pad) to “prescribe” self-serve interventions—including online modules, workshops, and fitness or meditation classes. This tool can help drive utilization through prescriptive recommendations.
Make self-serve resources feel more personalized and formal. Consider using…