Presented by Dr. Eric Wood and Dr. Cait Scafati
Dr. Eric Wood devised the Comprehensive Collaborative Care Model (CCCM) to help improve college counseling services for both students and care providers.
Dr. Wood believes that no student counseling center should be expected to treat all mental health disorders, but it shouldn’t simply refer them elsewhere. This led to a collaborative approach, which involves Texas Christian University (TCU) partnering with off-campus facilities to provide on-campus services, such as dialectical behavioral therapy.
Additionally, students are offered peer support groups, which are modeled on recovery groups, that are largely student-led. They provide a sense of community and a group of like-minded individuals to talk to when individuals need some support.
In his presentation at the 2023 Within Health Summit, Dr. Wood highlighted the opportunities campus mental health centers provide, how changing campus dynamics have presented new challenges to college counseling services, and details of his Comprehensive Collaborative Care Model, as well as its potential impact on students.
Putting aside the negative press and stereotypes, campus mental health counseling provides opportunities that no other healthcare system in the world can offer.
Most college students are aged between 18 and 25, which is a key demographic for many factors. For example, they are the second leading demographic for suicide attempts, have a high prevalence of eating disorders, and are a common age range for the emergence of mental health disorders.
Campus counseling centers have the necessary infrastructure in place, such as overheads and IT. When this infrastructure is combined with a service that has mental health treatment programs, the potential is huge.
Counseling services being available to students on campus can have a significant impact on student’s lives and the community as a whole.
College counseling centers are not designed to treat students with high mental health needs. Rather they are designed to:
In recent years, campus dynamics have changed, presenting challenges to college counseling services, including:
These new dynamics do not match up with what college campus services were designed for. This leads to the dangerous narrative that presents college counseling centers as inadequate and ill-equipped, and it doesn’t tell the full story.
There are some important statistics which shed more light on the story of college counseling centers:
The Comprehensive Collaborative Care Model (CCCM) was founded in 2019 by Dr. Eric Wood, Director of Counseling and Mental Health at Texas Christian University, to address the shift in campus dynamics mentioned previously. The CCCM consists of four key objectives:
Research shows that there is a high prevalence of eating disorders on college campuses. Between 11 and 17% of females and 4% of males on college campuses screen positive for clinical eating disorder symptoms.1 However, only 20% who screen positive go on to receive treatment, which is hardly surprising considering the average ratio of students to counselors on campus is 1731:1.1
The Within University is a safe place for students to recover from their eating disorders while continuing their education and day-to-day life. They offer high levels of care for students, including intensive outpatient programs and partial hospitalization programs, which include families and loved ones every step of the way.
By delivering treatment remotely, Within University can meet students where they are located and integrate into their student life. Services include:
Student outcomes are measured regularly during treatment—from admission to discharge—and there have been life-changing outcomes for students, including a:
The ability to remain on campus during treatment and to remain in treatment during breaks in the semester are major advantages of virtual treatment. Furthermore, pre-admission treatment and preparation allow students to know what to expect when undergoing treatment in the college environment.