The same ol’ story
No matter where I travel, which program I’m visiting, or the person I’m meeting with I seem to keep getting the same story. No, I’m not minimizing anyone’s experience. What I’m highlighting is a theme – a alarmingly obvious one that no one seems to be talking about. Good thing you’ve got me to share my findings with you!
You see, being a Therapeutic Consultant who only works with Young Adults really has it perks. Even more so, detailing my own journey as to how I came to be a Consultant by way of my work in higher education really seems to light up some folks when I talk with them. When I specifically talk about the moment the light bulb started to go off for me, I can almost guarantee in that moment based on the non-verbals of the person across from me if I’m describing their collegiate experience. The slow-creeping smile on the person’s face barely hides their excitement in wanting to blurt out “that was me as a student!” I love it! Not because the encountered a lot of adversity, but because they get the work I’m doing. The get why I came into this space.
My work included coaching students who were on academic probation. Really, it was how to creatively engage students that were experiencing a tsunami of issues related to mental health, executive functioning, substance abuse, trauma, and being on their own often for the first time. These were students who didn’t realize how much trouble they were in until I was able to hold up a mirror to their face. These were students who were going through the motions of higher education without ever being asked “why college? Why not something else?” These were students experiencing death, relationships ending, and swallowing the reality of loneliness. I was often destigmatizing students seeking help with on-campus resources, exploring off-campus resources, and navigating the process of withdrawing from school. I was a case manager, an advocate, and an empath.
I also served on a suspension deferral treatment team. These were the students who had multiple DUIs and were still in pre-contemplation. This is where I realized colleges will get really creative to find ways to support students who need residential level treatment and still manage to have them be fee-paying students. Seeing a lot of those students fight their way through even thinking they had a problem, sometimes for several months, just didn’t sit well with me. I knew there were amazing programs right in our backyard, but that required telling these students to leave and get help. Not knowing if they really got the help they needed was also not okay to me. I needed to see it all through.
So I left higher education. I launched my Consulting business slowly, while traveling to visit programs who I knew would work with my exact client profile. The young adult who launched and “unraveled” (whether that was due to mental health, substance abuse, or trauma). This is the consistent story I hear as I travel, even today. It’s exciting and yet it’s also heartbreaking. How is it that this many college students have taken a break to get help and it’s very hush-hush? There’s no shame in getting help. College isn’t going anywhere, so it’s so much more important to get help with you need it and take a break from school now.
I look forward to linking up with more people in the future who tell me “hey, that was me as a student in college!” We need more of you!
For questions or comments contact Joanna.
