Kansas State Counseling Services, formerly located in the English/Counseling Services building, found a new home in the Lafene Health Center. The move is in line with a longtime promise from the university to give the English department its own building.
Although there may be some difficulty adjusting to the change, Jim Parker, director of Lafene Health Center, said the move will ultimately be beneficial for students.
The nearness, Parker said, is practical because students who experience physical illness may also be experiencing a mental illness as well.
“We enjoy the geographical proximity to them because we have students that may need help right away, and it also has helped us to better establish rapport with the Counseling Services,” Parker said. “That’s a good thing. I heard of a number of cases since May, when they moved here, where our providers were actually able just to walk the patient down [to Counseling Services].”
Although the transition presents challenges, Daniel Larson, director of Counseling Services, said he is happy with the change.
“The health services is just upstairs; students are able to make it over there [and] highly use them,” Larson said. “So we’re hoping that our numbers are not going to go down and that students are going to be able to access us with the same ease, but we’re aware that it’s a transition period for the students right now.”
The new location also gave Counseling Services more practical space and an off-center, more private waiting room, Larson said.
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“We got a few extra group rooms as a result of coming in here,” Larson said. “I think confidentiality-wise, privacy-wise, it worked out well for us.”
In this transition period, the student organization Peer Advocates for Mental Wellness and Success, or PAWS, has been focusing on spreading awareness of the move.
Carly Tracz, graduate student in counseling and student development, is an assistant outreach coordinator for PAWS who works on stress management, suicide prevention and tabling.
“We do a lot of events on campus,” Tracz said. “Every Tuesday we’re in the Union for two or three hours. We have a table. We always have our trifold out there that has information and a big sign that says, ‘We’ve moved, here’s where you can find us.’ We do our best to get the news out there, as well as online.”
