Often, experiences of trauma challenge a person's ability to cope. Although many students on college campuses carry around trauma, the COVID-19 pandemic placed a magnifying glass on student mental health that made it clear universities cannot be passive when it comes to supporting students through their trauma. In this article, the authors argue…

It would be unjust to claim that trauma response is a shared and equal responsibility of all educators without also acknowledging that the unequal share of emotional labor currently falls to the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ colleagues. The authors recognize and condemn this dynamic and aim to provide all educators with the awareness and tools to respond to…

Higher education institutions can often serve as sites of growth and possibility. At the same time, trauma in varying forms permeates higher education across institutional types. The authors define trauma as the short- and long-term direct and indirect response to deeply distressing events. Students, faculty, and staff all experience various…

School psychologists and researchers trained in school mental health, are worried about undergraduate and graduate students. Even pre-COVID-19, college mental health issues had already risen to crisis levels (Becker, 2020); reports early in the pandemic only further demonstrated elevated levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and a need to…

Though traditionally confined to the literature classroom, poetry is finding its way into courses of all disciplines in K-12 and higher education. Poetry and expressive writing are useful for encouraging critical thinking, serving as a way for students to synthesize course content, and building classroom rapport. It can also positively impact…

Despite tempting illusions of college campuses as bubbles removed from "the real world", college students are not immune to trauma in its many forms including sexual violence, racism, death of loved ones, car accidents, abuse, or natural disasters. In the best-case scenario, colleges and their administrators and faculty can be sources of…

While colleges and universities are challenged with meeting enrollment goals, faculty and staff furloughs and layoffs, and balancing options for how to function as a business as well as educational organization, it is vital for vicarious trauma to be part of that conversation. Professionals whose role is to assist students by providing support,…

Visuals and images are ubiquitous on college campuses and with the lives of students, faculty, and staff. Increasingly students, administrators, and faculty have access to the means of creation, production, and distribution of images. While particular images are crafted by institutions to communicate particular messages, the use of visuals and…

St. Philip's College is the only community college in the nation that is both a Historically Black College (HBCU) and a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). The college has a long history of evolving to serve the local population in San Antonio, Texas. Currently, more than 50 percent of St. Philip's students are Latinx, 29 percent are White, and 12…

Everybody on campus is responsible for recognizing and responding to students in crisis. Sometimes the difficulty is knowing when to intervene. Being alert to students' mental health and wellness needs is an essential part of work life on today's campuses--even when it means stepping out of one's own narrow professional roles or risking leaving…

In one important way, student-veterans are like all other students. They need supportive relationships to achieve their academic goals. Serving these students well means learning their stories and helping them succeed. In the process, some of these people may change one's life. In this article, the author shares the touching stories of some of the…

In this article, the author contends that to understand the concern over student mental health, one must first consider what students are reporting about themselves. Students with mental health issues are intellectually capable; rising numbers of accepted students with diagnosed psychological conditions confirm this. However, many conditions…

Educating the student body on mental health involves outreach to groups not normally exposed to this information, including athletes, ethnic groups, residence hall inhabitants, fraternities and sororities, and international students. Frontline responders can help facilitate this outreach through initiatives that involve presentations by counselors…

Traditional-age college students face a host of challenges during the transition from home to campus. Perhaps one of the most substantial challenges--one that relates directly to adjustment and quality of life--involves the formation of new relationships, and the awareness, development, and establishment of boundaries between their own emerging…

A marked increase in the number of college students on medications for depression, attention deficit disorder, and other conditions may have intimidated counselors and educators into believing that they all need to be medical experts. The widespread practice of medicalizing behavior and experience contrasts dramatically with the approach in which…