OU Health Services at Goddard Health Center helps students by offering a solution to their stressful times during finals season.
With finals fast approaching, students are starting to feel the pressure of passing their tests. The faculty at OU Health Services at Goddard Health are determined to help students feel prepared for their finals through therapy.
Mathew Cancio, staff counselor at the University Counseling Center, reveals that there is a noticeably higher rate of students seeking help during finals season.
“We actually have seen an uptick, both in our intake process with students coming in to receive help for the very first time or to continue receiving help, or we see with a lot of our, let’s say my standard clientele,” Cancio said.
Multiple research studies agree with the rising number of students Cancio sees coming in during exam season.
Health Careers shares that The Butler Collegian did a 2016 study on mental well-being in which 1000 college students were interviewed, and approximately 2.9 million tweets related to campus life were analyzed.
The findings revealed that the peak of stress among college students occurred during their exam week. A staggering 89% of students acknowledged experiencing stress at least two to four times per semester.
Mental health plays a pivotal role in students learning and overall test-taking skills. Suicide Prevention Resource Center shares research on how mental health can affect students’ performances in school.
The well-being of students can be impacted by mental health issues, influencing factors such as energy levels, concentration, reliability, cognitive abilities, and optimism. Studies indicate a correlation between depression and lower academic performance, with the coexistence of depression and anxiety further exacerbating this connection.
Mindy Windholz, personal counselor at Goddard Health Center, shares some insight from her 20 years of experience on why therapy is so important.
“I think therapy is really important because it provides a space for folks to talk about anything they want to talk about without judgment. And I think that it’s a very layered kind of an explanation, but I think that as we progress in mental health, What we are now seeing is we are seeing way more awareness of identities, of culture, of orientations.” Windholz said.
Anna Halza, freshman at OU, reveals how she talks to her friends during these stressful times to organize her thoughts during this season of stress.
“I honestly probably have a habit of like. talking about myself, I call my best friend almost every day and then we just like to debrief about the day and I feel like that’s kind of like a really important part of me surviving life, honestly.” Halza said.
Cancio explains the idea of therapy and how it helps students navigate not only their studies but also their lives.
“Some of it, it could be a cognitive block, right? How we think about ourselves, how we think about the world. And if that’s causing distress, then therapy is a process or a place by which to navigate some of those conundrums or some of those difficulties.” Cancio said.
“So therapy is a place for us to talk through some of the issues in our lives that maybe don’t seem to have a readily apparent solution, and it’s a process to really kind of work through some of those things systematically with somebody else,” Cancio said.
Therapy to many people is a safe space to be able to express themselves, in a judgment-free zone. It can help students target their problems both at school and at home.
Eleanor Slate, sophomore at OU, shares her past experiences with therapy and how it has helped her overcome obstacles in her life.
“It just kind of gave me extra things that I can do when I’m stressed out or overwhelmed, or like in a bad spot mentally,” Slate said. “When I’m insecure about how I feel about certain things, I get to talk about it with a professional and they tell me how they feel, it makes me feel better.”
Slate recommends therapy for other students, feeling confident in its ability to relieve some stress from classmates.
“I feel like even if you haven’t gone through anything like extremely difficult and life-threatening or anything like that. It’s still nice to get other people’s opinions and to get extra help because I feel like we can all learn from other people.” Slate said
Counselors at Goddard Counseling Center are willing and wanting to help students feel more comfortable and secure during finals. Setting up an appointment is the start of a better season.
Windholz informs the best way to get an appointment at the Goddard Counseling Center.
“The best thing to do is call and set up an intake appointment, and that’s about 30 minutes. The counselor that you meet with will gather some information and talk with you a little bit about what you’re wanting to work on. And then that goes to a triage system,” she said.
“Basically meaning that the information gathered in the session is going to be sent on to our supervisor and she’s going to help to match up that student with a counselor,” Windholz said.
The address of Goddard Counseling Center is 620 Elm Ave, Norman, OK 73069. Appointments can be made online or through the phone number, (405) 325-4611.
