Increasing Counseling Center Utilization: Yeshiva University's Experience

Abstract

Yeshiva University established a counseling center during the 2004–2005 academic year. As a religiously based institution, the administration recognized that there would likely be significant impediments to utilization of on-campus mental health services as a result of negative attitudes about mental illness and its treatment—stigma. To combat these anticipated attitudes, the university put in place a number of assertive programs. Subsequently, rates of utilization increased to national norms within a relatively brief time, suggesting that a multifaceted outreach and referral campaign was as effective on this campus as at a secular institution. Of note, however, although utilization increased to national norms, levels of reported stigma remained significantly above national college norms, raising the intriguing possibility that stigma may not represent an absolute impediment to help-seeking.

Keywords:

• barriers of treatment
• increasing utilization of services
• reframing mental health care
• religiosity and stigma

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Alison Malmon and Dr. Jack Gorman for their helpful comments and support of this project.