Audrey Talla

Professor Boyle

ENG 170

April 12th, 2022

 

Saving Our World

For this campus space project, I decided to focus on mental health. Mental health is a broad topic, but there are many aspects inside it on which I could speak. To be specific, I wanted to see how we could help college students deal with stress and other factors that affect their mental health. You might be wondering what is mental health? Mental health has to do with our well-being and how we act. In a source called “What is Mental Health?” it explains the basis of mental health, factors that could lead to it, and how to prevent problems from it. Mental health can change throughout our stages in life depending on what we go through. Factors that can affect people’s mental health are biological factors such as genes, life experiences such as trauma and abuse, or a family history of mental health problems. Mental health could be seen in ways that some people might not know. For instance, not being able to sleep, lack of energy, not engaging in normal activities, experiencing mood swings, etc. Teenagers face these things a lot, which is why it is important they seek mental help when they need it. Connecting with others, getting enough sleep, being active are great ways to improve our mental health. Therefore, I believe that the Old Main Library should be used as mental health facility, providing group activities to help students deal with mental health.

  • These are pictures of the Old Main Library

Suny New Paltz already has a psychological counseling center. It is open 24/7 even when classes are in session. This is good so that students can check in with them anytime. Based on my survey results, I see that many students in New Paltz take advantage of our school’s counseling center. Many students find that is extremely helpful. In my survey when I posed a question “Do you think New Paltz has a supportive community? Are your friends, teachers, etc. people you can go to when you are feeling down?” everyone said they do believe it. Here were a few responses: “Yes, I think New Paltz has a supportive community. My friends are the people I can go to when I am feeling down. My teachers here will also help and are supportive when it comes to the work assigned and any difficulty I am having.” “Absolutely. There are certain people I would not go to, but there is a large group of people I would feel comfortable consulting.” “Yes, there is a strong supportive community. The university sets up many resources and there are counselors available for students to talk if needed. When I am feeling down, I go to either my family, friends of advisor.” This shows how the counseling center is helpful to students on campus, which is why I think an extra space to our campus would benefit students with mental health.

The Old Main Library should be a space to do group mental health activities such as writing activities, meditation, yoga, etc. New Paltz provides a space for students to have one on one counseling, but not actual group activities for them. Having a space to be with other students that are also dealing with mental health would be great because other people would realize that they are not alone and want to work together! An article called “Teen Anguish in the Pandemic” by Emily Smith talks about kids whose stress level increased during the pandemic. When Covid-19 came around, schools had to shut down to prevent the virus from spreading. This took a toll on many people such as kids and adults. The reading mentions how students were not able to adjust to the new learning environment online. Some students were happy to be home though because the workload became less. However, once September came the workload went up again. Smith says, “Carson’s story is not unique. The pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of millions… one of the biggest threats to the well-being of today’s teenagers is not social isolation but something else — the pressure to achieve, which has intensified over the past year.” After a long break from being in school, many students’ gpa dropped which is why they seemed concerned about failing. When school reopened, students had to get back on track and focus on school again. Parents were a main distraction to students during the pandemic because they always pressured them to succeed. Students feeling the need to achieve in everything added stress to them, which affected their mental health. This article shows how multiple students when through the same situation over the pandemic. Many students faced mental health which is why it would be a great idea to add a group therapy facility for students facing mental health.

A source called Thera Platform that talks about group therapy activities. Group therapy would be beneficial because it has more than one therapist assisting a group of people on a certain thing. Suny New Paltz has one on one counseling to help students with mental health, but they should also include group therapy so students could connect. There are many advantages of group therapy. First, is the feeling that you are not alone. Group therapy can bring universality and give students hope that they will get through their situation. Secondly, you can learn from group therapy when other people add ideas to help support themselves. The ideas they give can be useful in our lives too. One downfall to group therapy is that it could be intimidating. A person might be scared to explain a situation they are in. However, with group therapy you could meet others who share the same story as well. In group mental health, people would support you rather than make fun of. A quote I got from this platform stated, “In a review of multiple studies, sexual abuse survivors exhibited significant improvement after a group therapy protocol.” This shows that group therapy should be included at New Paltz since it is effective. Group therapy is good because you can learn about other members in your group. Playing activities such as writing fun facts, qualities/traits about yourself then passing them around to see who it is for, is a great way to meet new people.

In addition to group therapy, there have been student reviews that shown this study is good. According to the Therapy Guide by Courtney Ackerman, one person said, “The best part about being with a group is that you don’t have to do everything alone.” Another person said, “Some of the most comforting words in the universe are ‘me too.’ That moment when you find out that your struggle is also someone else’s struggle, that you are not alone, and that others have been down the same road.” Once another person realizes they are not alone, they will feel better in dealing with mental health. Students go through different things that could affect their mental health, so the group therapy could be split into different groups:

  1. Self help groups: focus is on someone who experienced life issues that can explain their process and how they went through it.
  2. Medication groups: to educate students on their medication and decrease their sense of isolation.
  3. Interpersonal therapy groups: a deeper diving into the clients’ current relationships to see where they stand.
  4. Psychodrama: members “acting out” their real-life stories. This reminds me of a program I went to in high school. It is called The Possibility Project, which empowers young people to share their stories, and impact their communities.

The space in the Old Main library would be a great space to have group therapy because rooms would be set up to form that. The students would use the rooms to form large groups and engage in certain activities. Discussions in groups could vary depending on what people want to talk about. Topics could be about family problems; someone could be facing family issues which could affect their mental health. Depression is another factor that college students face for a particular reason. Stress is another factor which could be from schoolwork, family, relationships, etc. Substance abuse could be mentioned talking about how the use of drugs leads to having a bad mental health. Lastly, major life transitions could also be mentioned; our mental health could change depending on what stage in life we are in.

In conclusion, you see why group mental therapy would not be such a bad idea. It could benefit students and teachers by learning more about themselves. It could give students hope and prevent them from making bad decisions. Group therapy would bring universality, which would make students feel secure of themselves and realize that they are not alone. If New Paltz added this, counselors would have an easier time to console students in groups rather than individually. With one-on-one counseling it may be harder to help a student if they cannot think of any suggestions to help. Especially if the person is shy pr uncomfortable speaking. In group therapy, another student dealing in the same situation could give an idea or two. This idea could then help the other students dealing with mental health. Based on my opinion, if I had mental health issues, I think I would benefit from group therapy over individual therapy. This is because I would meet people who might be in the same situation as me, and I would realize that I am not alone. I would not feel excluded because I would know that there are people out there that is like me and could bond with me as well.

 

Reflection:

This was a challenging project to complete. It was new to me, having to propose a space on campus that should be used to help our students. For my topic I focused on mental health. I made an outline by jotting down ideas I would write in each paragraph so that I would make the word count limit. I made an intro, body paragraphs, and conclusion. In my intro I introduced what mental health was and why it is important. In my body paragraphs I wrote about how group therapy could help students in New Paltz, included survey results, and student peer reviews! Since I was aiming for at least 5- 6 paragraphs in my essay, I made sure to write at least two each day so that I could submit my paper on time. One thing I think I did not do well in was explaining how the space in the Old Main library could be used to do group therapy. I mentioned it very briefly, but most of the time in my essay I argued why group therapy would be beneficial. Something I did very well on in my essay was finding evidence to explain why group therapy is great for college students.

 

Works Cited

“Group Therapy Activities.” TheraPlatform, https://www.theraplatform.com/blog/492/group-therapy-activities.

Smith, Emily E. “Teen Anguish in the Pandemic: [Op-Ed].” New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast) ed., May 09 2021, ProQuest. Web. Accessed 23 Jan. 2022.

“What Is Mental Health?” What Is Mental Health? | MentalHealth.gov, https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health.

“Your Ultimate Guide On Group Therapy (+Activities & Topic Ideas).” PositivePsychology.com, 25 Mar. 2022, https://positivepsychology.com/group-therapy/.