ANDREW CHA, Staff Writer—
Students from a range of different backgrounds flock to the Hill as the university hopes for all of them “to become autonomous thinkers, discerning moral agents, and active citizens of a democratic society.” With a student body of 2,300 students, Denison University boasts a diverse campus. However, this diversity can create challenges for providing students an effective means to receive counseling that they find helpful and understanding.
Currently, the Wellness Center’s counseling team has six counselors: Lindsay Buchanan, Dar Compton, Eli Eley, Sanda Gibson, Kelsey Jones, and Jack Wheeler. Not only is the team small, but the team does not reflect the sheer diversity that the university embodies.
Because of this, students recently knocked on the door of the Wellness Center and requested “access to counselors of various cultural backgrounds, identities, and clinical specialization,” according to The Wellness Center’s website. The Wellness Center responded with additional counselors.
As a result of this new development, the counseling team’s group of six now associates with the Wellness Center’s contract clinicians, a group of 25 licensed mental health clinicians that,
because they are off campus, will only be available via Zoom. They may also be able to provide counseling in languages other than English; the availability of this
service depends on the counselor and can be seen in the counselor’s biography and areas of specialty.
Just like appointments with the counseling team, appointments with the contract clinicians are free for students. Students have no need to pay anything out-of-pocket because everything is covered by their health center fee.
For an appointment, students must go through a teletherapy screening. To schedule a teletherapy screening, contact the Wellness Center at 740-587-6200 or [email protected].
