Feeling stressed out? The St. Edward’s University Health and Counseling Center is taking new strides in helping students who wish to talk to counselors who can help them deal with emotional stress.

There will now be group meetings offering a safe environment where students are free to speak with their peers about personal and emotional issues.

The idea for these groups stems from the desire and passion of Health and Counseling Center staff members for student-oriented groups.

“Many university counseling centers offer groups like this because they give students a place to get support, connect with others on a very open, honest level, learn about themselves and how they relate to others, and make changes in their lives,” staff psychologist for the Health and Counseling Center Charles Couchman said.

Couchman believes that group counseling sessions could be better for college students than individual counseling sessions, as peers can discuss their thoughts and feelings on relative college issues like self-confidence, relationships, depression, anxiety, and discovering new ways to be happy.

“Groups like this can be effective because they focus on [discovering] new things about ourselves [through] relationships,” Couchman said. “Relationships are one of the most important things that impact our quality of life and even how we feel about ourselves.”

But how do these meetings work? According to Couchman, the most important aspects of these exploration groups is that the students commit to respecting the confidentiality of the group. He hopes students attend sessions regularly and work toward their goals honestly with open minds.

These groups will be no larger than 10 members. The Health and Counseling Center hopes to keep groups ongoing long-term so that students can continue to participate as long as they need or want to. In addition, the Health and Counseling Center hopes to increase the number of meetings during the week in order to best fit students’ schedules.

In order to ensure that the group facilitates a student’s needs, each student will participate in a pre-group interview—a one-on-one meeting between an interested student and a group leader. Couchman hopes that students who join a group will feel a sense of connection in the group.

“[Students] will discover some things about themselves…that will help them grow and flourish as human beings,” Couchman said.

Couchman said the group sessions support the mission of the Health and Counseling Center to encourage the growth and development of students in the St. Edward’s community. The group sessions also promote a positive and supportive atmosphere in which students can meet their full potentials.

Sophomore Megan Gauwain said she believes the groups could be “good, depending on if each person is comfortable enough to speak within a group.”

Couchman explained that in his experience, individuals are less afraid to open up once another person has taken the risk. He hopes there will be someone brave enough to begin talking so the group can build a good rapport.

The groups have no set agenda except to provide students with a space where they feel safe sharing with others. The first group meetings are already in progress, and according to Couchman, enough students have shown sufficient interest to expect a second group to begin meeting after spring break.

The Health and Counseling Center hopes to continue these groups into the summer and fall 2011 semesters if there is ongoing interest.

Anyone interested in participating in these sessions or finding out more infomation can contact the Health and Counseling Center at 512-448-8538 or email Couchman at [email protected].