During a time of great uncertainty, including a global pandemic that has left people feeling isolated from one another, many in the Colorado State University community may find themselves needing someone to talk to.
Throughout the Spring 2022 Semester, the Counseling and Career Development Clinic in CSU’s School of Education provided more than 1,000 hours of free mental health services to more than 183 individuals.
Counseling and Career Development Clinic
The Counseling and Career Development (CCD) Clinic, located in the Education Building, is a training and research clinic staffed by student counselors pursuing their master’s degrees. These students are supervised by CCD faculty and licensed mental health professionals. The master’s degree in counseling and career development offers specializations in career counseling, clinical mental health counseling, and school counseling. The CCD Program is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, which represents the gold standard of accreditation for counselor preparation programs.
As extension of the CCD clinic, on-site services were offered to students at a school in Thompson School District, where 33 of 183 clients were served this semester.
Counselors-in-training at the CCD Clinic is equipped to assist individuals who are struggling with a wide range of issues, including career concerns, academic concerns, relational problems, loss, adjustment, transition, stress, time management, anger, guilt, and other emotions. The CCD clinic serves CSU staff and students, as well as community members, so long as they are within the state of Colorado.
Those who have participated in sessions at the CCD Clinic typically return again and again, with 50% of clients attending between six and ten sessions, and 22% of clients attending between eleven and fifteen sessions. “Based on anonymous client feedback and our retention data it is clear that our counselors-in-training are fostering strong therapeutic relationships with their clients as they collaboratively work towards their clients’ counseling goals,” noted Kody Roper, assistant professor and field experience coordinator for the CCD program.
Serving rural populations
During spring semester, the CCD Clinic also worked with rural Colorado communities that had limited access to mental health services. More than 50 counseling sessions were provided to Coloradans in rural areas, via telehealth.
To find out more about the CCD Clinic, or to schedule an appointment, head to the clinic’s webpage and click “Request for Services Meeting.” The clinic is currently closed for the summer session and will reopen at the start of the 2023 spring semester.
The School of Education is part of CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences.
