When University of Arizona students talk about mental health resources, most can name Counseling & Psychological Services; but few can describe what it actually offers beyond the image of a quiet office and perhaps a weekly therapy appointment.
For Leslie Ralph, assistant director at CAPS, that narrow perception is something the department is actively working to change.
“Students know about the one-on-one, but we offer a lot of comprehensive services,” Ralph said. “ We’re talking always about expanding and evolving our group programming […] just trying to get more attention on the community and peer-based programs. We love to see students attend those because we know they’re effective.”
Ralph emphasizes the peer counseling program as an incredible resource for students that often slips under the radar. Graduate student and a lead peer counselor Emiliano Calvo Alcaniz claims this is because unlike licensed clinicians, peer counselors share the same immediate academic and social environment as the students they meet with.
”I think for a lot of people that first step can be really hard or it can feel really overwhelming,” Calvo Alcaniz said. “Peer counselors are mostly here to listen and be very validating and talk to people about what’s going on […]. It feels almost more like a conversation with a friend rather than a proper adult who has a mortgage.”
For senior honors student and the other lead counselor, Natalie Rawlings, her role is about meeting students where they are, even if they don’t feel as if they are in crisis.
“We’re really here as a nice next step,” Rawlings said. “We offer emotional support, active listening, establish rapport and then get them onto the next step in their care.”
Peer counselors are trained in what Calvo Alcaniz describes as psychological first aid and active listening techniques. Their purpose isn’t to diagnose or provide therapy but instead to function as a bridge that connects students to individual counseling, group workshops, care coordinators or other campus resources.
Calvo Alcaniz found that peer counseling seems to be less intimidating to students approaching their mental health for the first time and Rawlings echoed that sentiment, emphasizing that accessibility often starts with comfort.
“It can be a little bit less intimidating because it’s more of a student-to-student interaction,” Rawlings said. “There’s still stigma around mental health and people can be nervous to walk into the CAPS waiting room.”
To discover more information on peer counseling at the UA, visit the Friend2Friend page on the CAPS website.
As another way to increase accessibility, CAPS launched their Warm Line, a phone-based service staffed by trained peer counselors, just this year. The non-emergency phone line is staffed by trained peer counselors to offer free phone support during evenings and weekends for students seeking a confidential space to talk to a peer about what they may be going through. It eliminates the sometimes overwhelming barriers of scheduling and funding an appointment.
“It can be a lot easier for people to just pick up the phone and call,” Rawlings said. “It’s another layer of support.”
Students can access the Warm Line by calling 520-621-0216, Monday to Thursday from 6-10 p.m. and Friday to Sunday from 8 p.m. to midnight as often as they need, with no limit on the number of calls. After calling, students may also choose to schedule a follow-up one-on-one session with a peer counselor.
Ralph noted that these services are not intended for crisis situations; students experiencing a mental health crisis should call CAPS 24/7 at 520-621-3334 or dial 988 for immediate support.
While individual therapy and conversations remain core services, CAPS has increasingly invested in group-based and preventative programming. Ralph oversees many of the department’s groups and outreach efforts, seeing group spaces as uniquely powerful.
“In a group-based space, you’re both giving and getting support and that give and take is itself very beneficial,” Ralph said.
Workshops and support groups vary by semester and can include emotional regulation groups, ADHD-focused sessions, nutrition-based workshops and graduate student specific spaces. CAPS also hosts lower-pressure events like CAPS After Dark and de-stress programming during midterms and finals such as bringing in kittens and puppies for students to play with.
“It’s important that you have events that aren’t super deep,” Calvo Alcaniz said. “You can just blow off steam with a bunch of cute little animals.”
To find more information on CAPS events and student support groups, visit the event calendar and the student group tabs on the Campus Health website.
Students can also schedule a counseling and consultation appointment, which is a one-time meeting with a licensed counselor to explore options and determine what level of care might be most helpful.
“You can meet with a care coordinator who can help you coordinate your care and get into your next step,” Rawlings said. That might mean connecting with a long-term therapist in the community, joining a campus support group or accessing other wellness resources.
Even with these services and society moving towards a more progressive view on mental health, many students hesitate to seek help due to what Ralph refers to as a sort of “Goldilocks dilemma.”
“Either you’re too complicated to go to CAPS or you’re not in crisis enough; there’s this misconception that CAPS is not for you if you have too much going on or you don’t have enough going on,” Ralph said. “But really, anyone can come to CAPS.”
That mindset, Ralph argued, causes students to sometimes disregard how important mental health is, keeping students from accessing support early or when they need it. According to Calvo Alcaniz, this is why the approachable nature of the peer counseling program is so significant.
“For a lot of people, the concept of therapy can be really scary and there’s a lot of almost imposter syndrome; [this sense of] ‘it’s not really bad enough for me to require therapy’. I personally am of the belief that there is no person on earth who is so well adjusted that they would not benefit from talking to someone,” Calvo Alcaniz said.
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