Psychological services are an integral service that should be provided by any college or university. If students are having difficulties either in their personal or academic lives, their grades, health and/or relationships may suffer. UC does provide psychological services; however, the “services” they provide seem to be lacking, especially here at RWC. In the April 22 edition of the Activist, it was reported that Dr. Betsy Bjick had tendered her resignation and due to budget constraints, the college was not going to fill her position. Dr. Bjick had been providing RWC with psychological services on a part-time basis, but maintained a full caseload of clients at RWC. In her absence, students have been directed to various staff personnel in Student Affairs, who have agreed to act as crisis intervention counselors.
I recently spoke with Tresha Lewis in Student Affairs and asked her how this process was communicated to students. It wasn’t, she admitted. An email was sent to faculty and staff advising them of the new changes, said Lewis, but nothing was ever relayed to students. Unless a professor is fairly exceptional, not many students I know of are willing to seek out their instructors or other staff members about personal problems in their lives. This lack of communication leaves students in the dark about the very services for whom they are intended.
And just who are these “crisis intervention counselors?” Firstly, according to Ms. Lewis, they aren’t “counselors” per se. She admits that they hold no certification and are intended to be more of an “immediate crisis contact” and can give “info only, assessing and redirecting” the student to services on main campus or outside UC. “They’re more of a referral service,” Ms. Lewis claimed. I liken it to RWC’s very own glorified talking yellow pages.
A friend of mine recently partook of the psychological services that UC offers and vented her frustration to me. Initially seeing Dr. Bjick on-campus at RWC, she sought out the services on main campus after Dr. Bjick went on a maternity leave, eventually resigning altogether. My friend underwent a screening interview, designed to assess the student in order to delegate the case to the appropriate therapist. The therapist contacted her a week later, and the first appointment was made.
After listening for scarcely five minutes, the therapist announced that she could not assist my friend with her problems because as she claimed, my friend needed long-term therapy and Psychological Services was designed more as a “temporary service.” Referred to Central Clinic on main campus, my friend was then advised that they had a waiting list two months long. What’s a student to do in times of crisis? Hold out two months and just hope for the best?
As frustrating as the obstacles are with UC’s own psychological services, students holding the student health insurance find seeking professional help even more difficult. If Central Clinic’s waiting line is too long, they’ll find getting outside professional help to be very expensive to the point of impossible.
For out-of-network providers, the student health insurance maintains a deductible of $200 and then covers only 40 percent of $40 after that. Translated from medical legalese, this means if you go outside of UC to obtain psychological services, you are responsible to pay $200 up front. Insurance will then kick in and cover 40 percent of $40 for each visit, which calculates into a savings of merely $16.
The problem here is that therapists charge a heck of a lot more than $40 per visit! A licensed social worker, not possessing the education level of a psychologist, charges anywhere from $80 to $120 an hour on average and psychologists even more. So, if you pay $100 for one, one-hour visit, after insurance chips in their meager “discount,” the student is still left with an $84 bill.
Wait, it gets worse. The student health insurance has a pre-existing condition clause. So, for this measly pittance they call a benefit, the student cannot have been treated for the same problem in the prior 12 months before the insurance took effect. If you had been in treatment before you obtained student health insurance, you can no longer prolong it unless you intend to pay full price for continuing treatment. The student can resume covered treatment after holding the policy for 24 months. So, basically, whatever progress you had been making in therapy is put on hold for two years. And this is considered putting the student’s best interests at heart?
Prior to the emergence of Freud, psychology was not considered a valid medical field, and unfortunately, UC seems to be still back in the Stone Age when it comes to providing quality psychological services to its students. Yes, I understand that there have been budget cuts across the board, but if UC has the funds to transform a pile of dirt into a artistically shaped mound (no kidding, it was built last year on main campus), then the funds are obviously there, but are being misdirected. The powers that be at UC need to recognize the importance of students’ psychological well-being and work to assist students, rather than hinder them in obtaining treatment.
If you need help:
RWC Contact:
Student Affairs: 745-5670
Main Campus Contact:
Psychological Services: 556-0648
Student Health Insurance: 556-6868