Issues change through 50 years of counseling services
BY JOAN TUPPONCE
Most people wouldn't equate a college psychological counseling service to the fountain of youth, but then Jean Dickinson isn't most people. Dickinson, now retired, served as the director of the Center for Psychological Services-now Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)-from 1965 through 1980.
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Current CAPS staff includes (seated, from l.): Peter LeViness, CAPS director; and Theresa Cross, office manager; and (standing, from l): Elizabeth Stott, staff psychologist; Charlynn Small, post-doctoral intern; Mary Churchill, staff psychologist; and Steve Noles, staff psychologist. |
"I loved being with the young people who came through the center," she explains. "They kept me young."
This academic year marks the 50th anniversary of CAPS at Richmond. The center's name change is just one of the many changes that have taken place during the last half-century.
When she came to Richmond, Dickinson was the only psychology department professor and administrator at the center with a clinical background. When positions were added in the department, she encouraged the hiring of professors who also had clinical experience.
One of those new professors was Warren Hopkins, who came to the University in 1976 with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and assumed the directorship of the center in 1980. He retired from the University in 2002.
"I was pleased that the administration at the University was willing to hire people who had pursued their discipline to its ultimate academic end," he says. "When students came for counseling services they were given the best that we had."
When Dickinson headed the center, services included occupational and career counseling as well as psychological counseling.
"Our young people had a variety of problems, none terribly serious," she recalls. "As years went on, we established group therapies to handle new problems such as alcohol and drug use."
Often problems stemmed from parental issues. "Some parents had a tight hold on their kids," Dickinson explains. "Parents were looking over their kids' shoulders all the time. We didn't see that as an environment for personal growth."
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Former CAPS directors Jean Dickinson and Warren Hopkins |
Over time, the occupational and career counseling services offered by the center became independent entities, shifting the center's main focus to counseling and psychological services. Workloads increased as the University's geographical boundaries expanded.
"Students who were from out of state couldn't go home to see a family counselor when needed," Hopkins explained. "We had to provide those services. Subsequently, the center had to make the decision that we really had to respond primarily to short-term counseling needs."
During the center's first 20 months of service, counselors saw 29 students for personal counseling and 105 for vocational problems.
"In the early 1980s, we averaged 200 students each year. By the time I left we were seeing about 300 students," Hopkins says.
Last year, the center saw 411 students-about 30 percent of undergraduates use CAPS services one or more times during their four years at the University.
"Over the duration of my time with the center, the issues got more severe," observes Hopkins, attributing the change to growing intellectual demands and geographical diversity. "College just plain got tougher. There was more anxiety and stress over making good grades."
Frequent reasons for counseling included depression and mood disorders. "We worked with anxiety disorders and hidden problems of substance abuse," Hopkins recalls. "We saw the gamut."
He remembers his first encounter with a student who had an eating disorder. "She was hiding and stealing food. She wore heavy clothing to hide her skeleton. When spring arrived, I got calls about a woman walking around who looked like she was on her death bed. We ended up hospitalizing her."
The vast majority of issues today are personal in nature, according to CAPS' current director, Peter LeViness. The top issues are anxiety and stress.
"I think it's part of our culture," observes LeViness. "People are pushing themselves harder, burning the candle at both ends. A lot of students have perfectionist tendencies. They have a hard time relaxing."
More and more students are operating close to the breaking point on a daily level, he adds. "They have a small cushion. When a relationship goes wrong or there is a family crisis or academic problems, they reach their breaking point."
LeViness believes that there is less of a stigma surrounding counseling than there was when the center began.
"Students are more receptive to the idea," he says. "The vast majority are comfortable considering counseling as a possible source of help."
"Jean, Warren and the center's staff did so much for students over the years," he adds. "They helped remove barriers to their successful functioning whether academically or personally."
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