Student counseling at a distance
Brianna Reeves
breeves3@uwyo.edu
UW Casper and Outreach students now have access to counseling through a new distance-counseling program.
Dr. Joseph V. Russo,Distance Counseling Program Coordinator, modeled the program after distance counseling programs he observed while in Australia. The distance counseling program was developed with “non-traditional” learners in mind Russo said.
“I had engaged in distance counseling when my wife and I lived in South Australia, where the distances between cities and the lack of mental health services are perhaps even more profound than in Wyoming,” Russo said.
While in South Australia, Russo was able to offer counseling to men and women who were away from home for months at a time working in the mining industry.
“Depression and loneliness were, as you might imagine, legion. So, when my wife and I arrived in Laramie in early 2016 we began penciling the program,” Russo said.
Russo continued to work with colleagues Dr. Mary Alice Bruce and Dr. Reed Scull to further develop the program. Months of background research, outlining protocols, assessing needs with the use of a 1500-student survey, attending to legal and ethical matters and setting up a center located in the Outreach School with a dedicated phone line and access to video-conferencing services led to services being officially available on Dec 1.
“While the psychosocial needs of on campus students are being met with a variety of resources, the students at a distance have also expressed a desire for supportive mental health services. We have numerous students around the state and want to support them all,” Bruce said.
The needs of distanced students are unique.
“These are students who engage in coursework via the Outreach School’s Learning Management System and who are, most times, doing so alone,” Russo said. “ Most often they are located in rural settings, far away from available mental health services.”
Support for these students is offered through “tele-counseling” and other technological mediums.
“Tele-counseling is the latest in an array of student support services we are supporting through technological delivery,” Scull said. “Best practice in distance education requires that we work continuously to offer as many of the services available to Laramie campus-based students as possible.”
All students who are enrolled in distance education have access to this service. Students who are enrolled primarily at the Laramie campus are encouraged to make use of the free counseling services available on campus.
Services are available to help interested parties deal with anxiety about their schoolwork, depression and loneliness, work-life balance challenges and other work or relationship related concerns.
Any students who are interested in services can call (307) 766-3682 or email jrusso1@uwyo.edu.
A licensed counselor will provide assistance and can transfer the phone call to a videoconference. Students can access these services as frequently as necessary. Counselors can also help students find in-person counseling if they believe it would be more effective.
“Our hope is that the program will result in a significant reduction in the drop-out rates of distance students. But more importantly, our hope is that we can be a significant part of people’s attempts to stay focused, minimize the anxiety around college coursework, and to improve their lives,” Russo said.
