Page 14 - Laker Connection Fall 2010

Above L to R: The Counseling and Psychological Services staff: (back row) Roxanne Dilbeck, administrative assistant; Dr. Christine Smith, director; Wayne Strother, assistant director; (front row) Shiraz Karaa, associate director; Dr. Jennifer Dean, assistant director for outreach and pre- vention. Above Left: A student unwinds during finals week by petting an Atlanta TheraPaws dog. Left: A Safe Space Program meeting discusses how Clayton State can provide a supportive en- vironment for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, faculty and staff.
Counseling and Psychological Services
Supporting collegiate mental health By Erin Fender
Each semester, many students seek support and guidance from Coun- seling & Psychological Services (CPS) here at Clayton State. Though most would assume students are seeking psychological or mental personal sup- port; the staff offers much more to the campus community.
“We offer individual, couples, and group counseling; career counseling; psychiatric consultations; and many out- reach and prevention presentations. As counselors, we just battle the time-worn stigma about help seeking. We offer so
many opportunities to support students,” says Dr. Christine Smith, director of Counseling & Psychological Services.
A large focus for this office has been to become more visible and known amongst the students. CPS is often present at student events and even of- fers many outreach presentations. Just this past spring semester, CPS joined the alcohol awareness fair, the spring health fair, and brought in the Atlanta TheraPaws group as a stress reliever for students during final exams.
The predominant function for this of-
fice is personal and career counseling. The staff focuses on the student’s per- sonal health and helps them to discover their major or career path. This is par- tially done through career testing. Their goal is to help students not only discover their “job” but also discover a meaning- ful career and the rewards of working in that field.
“We are really trying to make our staff and office as approachable as pos- sible. We want students to feel able to speak with us, that we are not scary,” says Smith.
12 THE LAKER CONNECTION