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New mental health student resource discussed on WPSU’s Higher Education in Focus

WPSU Penn State's "Higher Education in Focus" will air at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, on WPSU-TV and WPSU-FM. Credit: WPSU Penn State / Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new position that will address the growing demand for counseling and psychological services at Penn State will be discussed during the next episode of WPSU Penn State’s “Higher Education in Focus: Evaluating Mental Health on Campus” with University President Eric Barron. The show will air at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 21 on WPSU-TV and WPSU-FM.

Penn State Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) will appoint the first embedded counselor, who will be located at one of the University’s residence halls, during the 2016-17 academic year. This appointment follows the Class of 2016 gift campaign and a $50,000 donation from Rodney Kirsch, senior vice president for development and alumni relations, and Michele Kirsch, associate dean for student affairs in the Schreyer Honors College. CAPS worked with more than 3,600 students in 2014-15 — a 32 percent increase from the previous year.

President Barron will welcome guests Dennis Heitzmann, senior director of Penn State’s Counseling and Psychological Services; Ramon Guzman Jr., executive director of the 2016 Class Gift Campaign; and Rodney Kirsch for an in-depth discussion on mental health on campus and the impact of the embedded counselor program for the Penn State community.

The CAPS embedded counselor will provide a range of services, including walk-in risk assessments, one-on-one counseling appointments and group sessions focused on topics of common concern. The counselor will help alleviate the backlog of students at CAPS, which reaches its maximum treatment capacity by October of each year.

Focusing on University-related topics, “Higher Education in Focus” airs each month during the academic year. For more information and to watch archived episodes, including last month’s episode on study abroad at Penn State, visit wpsu.org/infocus.

Last Updated September 23, 2020

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