Counseling Services

Everything you need to know about Moses the therapy dog

lblouin — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 16:18:06 +0000

Everything you need to know about Moses the therapy dog lblouin Mon, 03/13/2023 - 12:18

This year’s State of the University event featured a diverse lineup of guests, though we’ll forgive you if all you remember a year from now is it was the day you met Moses. The debut of Counseling and Psychological Services’ new therapy dog drew plenty of “awwwws,” and the laid-back black goldendoodle handled the resulting onslaught of hands-on affection in stride. Since Moses’ introduction, CAPS Director Sara Byczek says the enthusiasm hasn’t subsided. “I had no idea how popular he’d be,” she says. “The day he was on social media, people were stopping by, asking ‘Where's Moses? Can I get an appointment with Moses?’ People just really relate to dogs, and it’s obviously great to see this is a new way to reduce stigma and help people come in the door.”

While Byczek loves that people are excited about Moses — and the spotlight he seems to be drawing to mental health — it’s important to remember that he is a working dog. Moses’ role as a therapy dog means that most of his time on campus will be spent interacting with CAPS clients in confidential, private therapy sessions. CAPS Counselor Carmen Bell, who is Moses’ caregiver and handler, says he received specialized training designed to make him a valuable therapeutic partner for folks dealing with trauma, anxiety or stress. “Moses is super chill and soft and fluffy, and he loves cuddling,” Bell says. “The idea with using a dog in a therapy session is that someone would get to cuddle and hold him, and that would help them feel comforted and centered as they talk about their trauma or anxiety.”

Moses' official role means that he’s not really available for appointments or drop-in cuddle sessions that don't have an explicit therapeutic purpose. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be opportunities for the broader campus community to interact with him. Bell says that if you see Moses out and about, talking a walk, it’s totally OK to say hi, though if you notice he’s wearing his red therapy dog vest, that means he’s on the clock and heading to an appointment. The CAPS team is also planning to have Moses attend campus events with a mental health component, like the end-of-semester exam cram sessions at the library or Take Back the Night, where survivors of sexual or relationship violence often share intimate stories. “In settings like that, we think Moses could bring a lot of comfort to people and help reduce stress,” Byczek says.

Carmen Bell with her main man, Moses

A couple more fun facts about Moses:

The 15-month-old pup is a goldendoodle, which is a golden retriever and poodle hybrid breed known for their smarts, affectionate personality and (mostly) hypoallergenic coats. But you may have noticed that Moses is black — not golden — owing to his poodle heritage. Bell said she specifically sought out a chocolate or black dog, due to the stigma associated with pets with darker colorations.
Bell chose Moses because he was the chillest of the litter. “When we went to the breeder to check him out, a lot of the puppies were running around playing, another dog peed on the carpet, and Moses was just sitting there very relaxed. We looked at him and he laid down and then he fell asleep, so I knew he was the one. That’s the kind of temperament you want in a therapy dog.”
Bell named Moses after the prophet who features prominently in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and other faiths. “In the Bible, Moses helps set people free from bondage, and Moses the therapy dog is going to help set people free from emotional bondage.”

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Story by Lou Blouin

Health and Wellness

Student Success

Counseling Services

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Mon, 03/13/2023 - 16:15

Counseling and Psychological Services added a new team member back in February. But don’t confuse this pup for a mascot. He has a job to do.

Credit: Michigan Photography

How COVID has (at least temporarily) changed the college mental health landscape

lblouin — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 22:40:52 +0000

How COVID has (at least temporarily) changed the college mental health landscape lblouin Mon, 09/28/2020 - 18:40

Screenshots of recent CAPS webinars featuring CAPS counselor Jessica Ryder, peer mentors Grace Tate and Kamara Gardner, and CAPS counselor and social worker Joanna Ransdell.

Will we see a surge in remote work after the pandemic? Will it kill movie theaters? Will takeout replace dining in? A lot of changes ushered in by the pandemic have led to speculation about which trends might last. 51��Ƶ-Dearborn’s Director of Counseling and Psychological Services Sara Byczek says that’s definitely a hot topic in the college mental health field as well, and she’s seen some definite shifts — both in terms of the kinds of services students are seeking and what they’re seeking them for. But she’s mostly taking a wait-and-see approach about which trends might have staying power. Recently, we chatted with Byczek to talk about how the college mental health landscape is being reshaped by the pandemic, and at least one change that could be here to stay.

Sara Byczek

So we’re now about six months into the pandemic, which is long enough to at least anecdotally talk about trendlines. From your perspective on the ground, how has the pandemic changed things?

One of the things we’re seeing both here at 51��Ƶ-Dearborn but also nationally is that students are struggling to find confidential spaces in their own homes. We do a lot of individual counseling, and those sessions are all remote right now, but if you’re living with other people, it can be really difficult to feel like a session is truly private. This didn’t necessarily come as a huge surprise because a lot of our students say they come from a family or a background that’s not supportive of mental health. Sometimes their presenting concern is the family they’re living with. So how do you go and talk about the stresses of your family when they could be right outside the door?

Because of this — and this is also a nationwide trend — we’re actually seeing the demand for individualized services go down. This is a little concerning because surveys out there of how our students are doing with their mental health indicate that they’re not doing so great. So the question becomes, what can we do to get resources in students' hands so they can access services in a way that’s going to work for them?

And so how do you do that?

Well, I think the biggest shift involves looking beyond individualized therapy to a more community-based approach. So at the same time that demand for individualized therapy is down, we’re seeing a spike in interest in our workshops and programs that don’t require students to engage in the same way. For example, all summer, we hosted virtual mental health workshops, where we might have five or 10 people attend live. But then we put the recordings on YouTube, and we’ve seen tons of views — way more than we saw pre-COVID. We’re really trying all kinds of things, including wellness activities, like workout sessions, origami — origami was really popular. And we are balancing that both with more clinical topics and ideas that come directly from our peer mentors, like how to cope with being at home with an unsupportive family, or how to maintain romantic relationships during the shutdown, or how to date during a pandemic. We have about 70 videos in all now. I think we’re seeing such strong interest because students can just pop on their headphones and watch one of these videos in total privacy.

That’s really good to hear that people are still connecting with you, and I know you’re a big fan of nontraditional approaches. But you’re also still a talk therapist. Do you worry at all that students might not be getting what they really need from these less participatory activities that don’t dive as deeply into their individual situations?

I think different people will give you different answers to that question, but my answer is that they’re getting what they need — right now. I think it’s a very positive sign that given this new environment, where many of our students are not seeing individual therapy as accessible, they’re still seeking support. But I think when we’re able to get back to face-to-face interactions, we’re going to see the floodgates open among people who have used these alternatives to get them through but now want to do that more personalized work. So I don’t think we’re seeing a long-term replacement, where workshops and online platforms are going to be the new way people get mental health treatment. Those options have been there all along, and people still chose individualized counseling. In fact, some of the universities that are still doing face-to-face counseling, they haven’t seen these shifts in demand. So I think it’s just the crutch we need to get through it.

That said, I hear a lot of this statement: ‘I’ve never struggled with any mental health-related things before and now I find myself anxious.’ So we’re seeing a lot of people seek counseling who I’m not sure would have if it weren’t a pandemic. And I’ve also heard from individuals who say they never had the time for counseling before, but now that they’re working from home, they do and they love that they can do a virtual session. So when this is all over, I think our profession may have to look at whether we should be using this platform more, because it could reach a whole group of people who otherwise might not seek counseling.

And, finally, what about support groups? Does that format translate well online?

So this summer we did some pilot groups and it was really successful. We just changed our group confidentiality consent form to account for the fact that students would not only be talking with other people, but would be talking with other people who are talking in their homes. But students we’re OK with that. I think they just wanted to be able to connect with others. And so we’ve decided we’re going to go full force with that this semester. The peer mentors are running two general support groups, which will be starting really soon. All summer, we helped back them up on their LGBT support group, and that’s going to continue into the fall. And the staff are going to offer our general therapy groups, including a coping skills group and a grief group. We feel that’s really important because a lot of our students are going to school this semester while experiencing grief.

One of the other actions that I’m really excited about is we’re creating a student advisory board. Our peer mentors have sort of unofficially served as that, and I go to them all the time for their feedback. But now we’re making it more official. We’re saying, ‘Hey, we want you.’ The more minds at the table, the less likely it is that you’re going to have a blindspot, and to include everybody, you have to work toward that inclusion. That means being willing to have hard conversations and hear feedback about what is working and what isn’t.

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Interested in learning more about CAPS’ full lineup of mental health services? Webinars, group sessions and individualized therapy are open to all 51��Ƶ-Dearborn students. You can find all the details at the CAPS website.

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Mon, 09/28/2020 - 22:39

51��Ƶ-Dearborn’s counseling director explains why Zoom therapy isn’t as popular as you’d think but easy-to-access wellness activities are booming.

How creating a new routine can save you from the ‘Groundhog Day’ of social isolation

lblouin — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 12:34:44 +0000

How creating a new routine can save you from the ‘Groundhog Day’ of social isolation lblouin Wed, 04/01/2020 - 08:34

A montage of images symbolizing healthy behaviors, including cooking, exercising and meditation.

The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic has been radically different for different groups of people. It goes without saying that frontline healthcare workers, essential employees, those directly impacted by the virus, and folks who have lost jobs, have felt the worst impacts of the crisis. For those fortunate enough not to be impacted so directly, there are still new realities to adjust to. A few weeks into what could be a prolonged period of sheltering in place, many people are starting to wrestle with the challenges of social isolation, cabin fever, a collision of work and home life, and anxiety about what lies ahead. If you find yourself in that boat, Sara Byczek, 51��Ƶ-Dearborn’s director of counseling and psychological services, is here to help. Here’s what she had to tell us about learning to cope with the newfound strain of mass social distancing.

The Reporter: For a lot of people, one of the ironies of this crisis is that their lives have simply become more mundane. Any thoughts for people who feel stuck in a Groundhog Day loop?

Sara Byczek: Well, it’s true, this idea that everything just feels like one long day is definitely something I’m hearing from people. And it’s not insignificant from a mental health perspective. What I hear in that — and it’s something we mental health clinicians talk a lot about — is this sense that having structure does something really important for our mental health. Normally, many of us start our days by waking up at the same time, getting ready, going to work, and then driving home, etc. Now, that routine has suddenly disappeared, and the temptation is that you could sleep in, maybe skip showering and putting on your makeup, and simply turn off the video for your afternoon Zoom meeting. But what’s missing there are the little pieces of a routine that our brains have come to rely on. So I think one of the best things you can do if you are feeling stuck is to establish a new routine that gives you back this kind of structure, so your days feel organized and purposeful.

Counseling director Sara Byczek stands for a portrait on the second floor of the University Center

Reporter: And of course the tricky thing is a lot of options are simply off the table because of the shelter-in-place order. So what tops your list of things people should think about doing to build up those routines?

Sara: Several things come to mind. For starters, cast your time in the kitchen in a new light. For many of us, cooking at the end of a long work day can feel like a chore. Now, you can turn it into a highlight of your day. Be creative. Last week, we dug okra out of the back of our freezer, and I’d never had okra before but it was really good. Cooking is also something you can do with the other people in your house. Or if you live alone, call up a friend while you’re cooking and cook together.

Exercise is another big one to add to your routine, and it has huge benefits for your mental health. At least for now, you can still get outside; and I swear, I’ve never seen so many people in my neighborhood out walking. Of course, you want to maintain the proper social distancing, but getting outside will also get you some sun — and that Vitamin D, which helps with your mood. Even if you’re nervous about going outside, or don’t have a good outdoor space, just opening a window and letting in some fresh air can have an impact on your state of mind. Personally, the first thing I noticed when I started working from home is that suddenly I had windows I could open, and it’s been huge for me.

Another thing I’d recommend people trying is scheduling at least one self-care thing every day. And I mean literally put it on the calendar. This is something we tell clients even under more typical circumstances. There is something about scheduling it that reinforces your commitment to actually doing an activity. And it can be anything that makes you feel happy or relaxes you in some way. For me, one of the big things has been all these online performances. I swear I’ve probably “been to” more concerts online in the past two weeks than I have in a couple of years.

Reporter: You mentioned a few ways people are recreating social experiences online. But there’s a darker side to this screen time thing, right? Like, there is a danger in just filling up your day with more computer or phone time, especially when the news is what it is.

Sara: Absolutely, and I’m so glad you brought that up. In fact, one of the really practical things we’re recommending to people right now is turning off their news notifications. It’s not that we don't want people to be informed, but you can definitely be overinformed. So check maybe twice a day for a predetermined amount of time, and try to limit it to that. It’s just too easy right now to fall down that rabbit hole of reading about all the different things that are happening, then getting on social media, then reading what people are saying there, and the next thing you know it’s been two hours. That is not healthy for anyone. Especially right now, when it’s so hard to know what we don't know, it’s easier to get confused about what’s good information. So I recommend not only limiting your time, but being extra conscious about where you're getting your news. What your best friend’s sister’s cousin heard through the grapevine is not as trustworthy as a reputable news site or government site that’s posting critical information.

Reporter: On the flip side, the technology can be a way of staying in touch with people. In fact, this may be one of the ways in which our lives are disrupted the least.

Sara: I agree completely. Right now we’re told we can’t physically hang out with friends and family, so of course, that's suddenly all we want to do, right? But if you think about it, a lot of our social connections already were through text messaging or Facetime. So it’s about doing what we already were doing to check in on each other, and then finding new ways that feel meaningful. I tried Netflix Party, where you watch the same movie with your friends and chat about it, and it was actually pretty fun. I heard about a family where the grandparents wanted to see the grandkids, so they met at a grocery store parking lot, parked next to each other, and then talked on the phone with the windows rolled up. I’ve heard of these “honking parties,” where friends will drive by a person’s house for their birthday, honking their car horns to wish them a happy birthday. So people are doing what they have to do to maintain those social connections, which plays a huge role in our mental health.

Reporter: We’ve talked about things you can do to stay positive, but the situation is, in fact, pretty scary. What’s the approach if you’re feeling a lot of anxiety about what’s going on?

Sara: A couple things come to mind. First, anxiety is a completely normal emotion. It doesn’t feel good, but I think it’s completely understandable that people would feel this way during a global pandemic. So first, you have to acknowledge it, and then commit not to drowning in it so you can move forward and experience other emotions. That’s where all the coping skills we’ve talked about can really help.

The other emotion I think that’s useful to talk about in this context is grief. I think there is a real sense of grief in losing our sense of what’s normal and parts of our lives that make us feel normal. I think that also explains why some people seem like they’re still in denial about the situation, and even why they’re angry. I have a family member, where the grief model has really helped me understand their reaction. And that’s helped me respond to them from a place of love and understanding rather than frustration.

Reporter: Sara, we really appreciate all these insights — especially because it’s above and beyond your own daily routine of helping students. Before we let you go, tell us how you’ve adjusted your office’s services for students.

Sara: For starters, we’re still operating our crisis line, and we’re still open for new clients who want therapy. If a person is interested in talking with a counselor, they can just email us. For now, the sessions are done by video and our server is a secure, HIPAA-compliant server, so it’s completely confidential. As many people know, we have an amazing peer counseling program at 51��Ƶ-Dearborn, and we’re figuring out right now what we can do to add some peer support online. Last week, we started daily workshops where you can listen to a therapist talking about different topics, and those are open to anyone, not just students. And finally, on our website, we’re maintaining a list of online resources anyone can use, from where to find free yoga classes to mindfulness and meditation exercises. One of the amazing things we’re seeing is that counseling directors across the country are sharing ideas with each other. So I’m making it a part of my own new routine to update that list every Friday. So check back often.

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Find the complete list of resources from 51��Ƶ-Dearborn’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) on their website.

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Wed, 04/01/2020 - 12:33

51��Ƶ-Dearborn’s counseling director talks about how to nurture your mental health during the pandemic — including why you should still shower and comb your hair even if no one’s watching.

Students’ demands for mental health are changing fast. How can we keep up?

lblouin — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 14:37:53 +0000

Students’ demands for mental health are changing fast. How can we keep up? lblouin Tue, 02/04/2020 - 09:37

U-M Director of Counseling and Psychological Services Todd Sevig

Over the past half-decade, the number of students enrolled in American colleges and universities has been fairly steady. But during that time, student demand for mental health services has spiked. Here at 51��Ƶ-Dearborn, in this academic year alone, we’ve seen a 20 percent increase in students seeking help from the Counseling and Psychology Services (CAPS) office. So what’s behind the sharp rise in demand? And more importantly, what’s the key to keeping up with students’ needs? Recently, 51��Ƶ-Dearborn’s CAPS Director Sara Byczek caught up with Todd Sevig, the longtime CAPS director on the Ann Arbor campus, for his take on these challenges. Here’s their conversation, which has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

Sara Byczek: So first, let’s talk about this increase in demand that we’re seeing. What do you think is behind this trend?

Todd Sevig: Well, I’ve been doing this work for 30 years, so one way to think about that question is to ask what’s really different between then and now. Obviously, there is a decrease in stigma around seeking help, which I think is a result of this huge increase in awareness of mental health throughout our society. There are so many programs in middle school and high school now. We see celebrities, high-profile athletes, actors, musicians actually talking about mental health. It’s in social media as well as traditional media. None of this happened in the past. So kids today are growing up with a really different experience of mental health, and when they grow up and come to our campuses, they’re much more open to using our services.

Concurrently, what’s been happening in counseling centers is that we’ve drastically increased the outreach part of our profession. I’m exaggerating a little bit, but in the old days, we’d basically sit in our offices and expect students to come in one at a time, we’d do counseling, and then we’d go home at the end of the day. Now, we’re doing workshops, we’re going to faculty meetings, we’re working with advisers, we’re online, we’re promoting knowledge of signs and symptoms, we’re talking about how to refer students. So we’ve focused a lot of energy on helping other campus personnel in their roles to support mental health.

The third thing I would say is there is a wild explosion of student interest and advocacy. They want their universities and colleges to do more with student mental health. They tend to love our counseling centers and they want more. The one fact I often share is that our students say the number one reason they come to our center is a referral from a friend. So that says a lot about how students view and value mental health services.

Sara: And given this changing landscape, what do you see as the big challenges facing counseling centers, and how do they compare with challenges from the past?

Todd: Well, I can share a little anecdote about that. The university is actually renovating the building where our counseling center on the Ann Arbor campus is located, and in the course of temporarily moving our offices, we’ve been going through old documents dating back to the early 1970s. We found memos written about “increasing demand” and “the need for more staff.” I mean, for the most part, we could simply put a new date on there and use the same text today.

So from a historical perspective, I think it’s almost ‘old news’ to simply say ‘there is an increase in demand and we need more staff.’ I don’t think that’s actually what’s relevant right now. I think the more relevant challenge is keeping in touch with new needs, and this means providing multi-faceted services for different groups of students. The core idea is that all students need mental health support, but not everyone needs individual therapy. So we need to be looking at group-based counseling; using technology to reach students who don’t interface with our office; workshops; peer-based approaches. In fact, when I first came into the profession, peer approaches were all the rage. Then somewhere in the mid-1990s, students decided they didn’t want to see their peers; they wanted to see professionals. And then in the past five or six years, enthusiasm for peer approaches has exploded again, albeit in a different way. So in that case, we’re looking at how we, as counseling centers, can provide training for peers, but then allow the peers to provide a whole bunch of services that some students really benefit from. That’s the opportunity, but to do it well, we have to be really good at listening to what students want and need.

Sara: That’s a great point. As you know, I love peer programs. Ours is in its second year, and the reason we started it is that students say they're more likely to talk with their friends. We’ve found in many cases, it really is better than any kind of service we can provide for them. But let’s go even beyond the context of our counseling offices. What do you think colleges as a whole could do to better support their students’ mental health?

Todd: That’s a great question. First, I do think it’s important that the staffing of counseling centers meets the needs — and importantly, that there’s diversity in our staffing. And yet, there are other things that colleges and universities can do. I actually had an opportunity recently to go to a class and talk with students about this exact topic, and they had some interesting suggestions. They talked about free yoga sessions, more wellness events, more conversations about mental health issues in the classroom, mental health days throughout the semester. But one thing they said that really stuck with me — and I don’t think this just applies to the University of Michigan — is that there is an unhealthy pressure for students to compete. You could call it real, you could call it perceived, but students are feeling it. Competition is wonderful, it helps us all do better. But when it builds into an unhealthy pressure or perfectionism, it’s a problem. We call ourselves the “Leaders and Best.” The stakes are so high and have increased every year to the point that they’re unrealistic. We need to fix this. It hurts performance, it hurts our mental health.

I don’t claim to have all the answers, but there have to be ways to change our classrooms, our labs, our studios. We need to create a culture that encourages and rewards each of us individually as well as collectively; to show more compassion toward others and toward ourselves; to uphold high academic standards and take care of our mental health; to recognize the multiple ways we learn and grow — and recognize that failure is an inherent part of success. As students, they are here to learn, which inherently means they don’t know everything. Mistakes are essential. And yet students feel they have to be perfect almost every day. You can’t let anyone know you don’t know the answer. That’s particularly true for students who come from communities that are historically and currently marginalized. We have to realize that it can be difficult for a student of color to go up to a full professor from the majority culture and say, ‘I really don’t know the answer to this, can you help me?’ So I’d love to see us crack that culture. I think that would really bolster mental health.

Opinion or Voices

Student Success

Counseling Services

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Tue, 02/04/2020 - 13:50

51��Ƶ-Dearborn’s counseling director Sara Byczek sits down with her counterpart at the Ann Arbor campus for an expert-to-expert conversation about how we can best serve our students’ evolving mental health needs.

Sara Byczek takes over as new director of Counseling and Disability Services

nlerma — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 17:30:27 +0000

Sara Byczek takes over as new director of Counseling and Disability Services nlerma Mon, 01/22/2018 - 12:30

Sara Byczek

The first thing Sara Byczek wants students to know about therapy is that it’s not what you see on TV.

“I don’t even have a couch in my office,” Byczek said, smiling, pointing out the two-seat loveseat that’s definitely not long enough to lay down on. “This is not Dr. Phil. It’s not about me telling you it’s your mother’s fault, your father’s fault. I’m not an advice giver. I am here to empower you to make decisions, but you’re the expert on you.”

Breaking down the persistent stigmas around mental health that keep students from reaching out is a top priority for Byczek as she takes over as director of Counseling and Disability Services. A key part of her approach will be expanding the counseling center’s reach beyond the office itself—connecting with student organizations, coaching faculty and staff on how to be good mental health “first responders,” and integrating services into other parts of university life. One big idea for that: Down the road, she’d love to install pop-up counseling offices in academic buildings or the University Center for drop-in, paperwork-free appointments.

Byczek said expanding services is crucial on university campuses, where nationwide, more students are both seeking counseling and coming in with more serious challenges, like depression or anxiety. Because of increased demand, students often face wait lists for counseling services; at 51��Ƶ-Dearborn, the wait time currently is about two weeks. She hopes to keep up with students’ needs this year by expanding group counseling programs, which provide access to an unlimited number of sessions. Byzeck, who is a psychologist herself, also is making it part of her job description to see students weekly.

At 51��Ƶ-Dearborn, the counseling center shares space with disability services, which connects students with accommodations that ensure a level academic playing field. That includes things like providing audio textbooks, note-taking services and exam rooms for those who struggle with taking tests in traditional classroom environments.

“I can’t even tell you all the services we offer, because there could be something that comes up tomorrow that we’ve never done before,” Byczek said. “If a student comes in and says, ‘I have this problem,’ we work with them to come up with solutions. So it requires a lot of creativity. No one should feel left behind because of a disability.”

Byczek, who started in December, comes to the director’s position with nearly a decade of experience in university counseling offices. Her most recent post was at Wayne State University, where she worked as a psychologist and case manager, and served on the President’s Commission on the Status of Women.

It’s also a homecoming for the Downriver native, who did her undergraduate work at 51��Ƶ-Dearborn—graduating in four years, while holding down a full-time day job.

“I was definitely a non-traditional student. Because I was working, I think all my classes except two were evening classes,” she said. “But I’m getting a different view now. It’s going to be really great to see what goes on at 51��Ƶ-Dearborn during the day.”

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Mon, 01/22/2018 - 17:25

The 51��Ƶ-Dearborn alumna aims to embed mental health services in more parts of university life.