Helping Hispanic students cope with mental health issues
September 05, 2014
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The University of Texas-Pan American offers a range of outreach and intervention programs to help students cope with the stresses of college life. In addition, they have developed some approaches specifically to help Hispanic students, who sometimes bring a different set of risk and protective factors for depression, anxiety, and suicidal behavior. For instance, said Eugenia Curet, assistant dean of students for medical and counseling services, many Latino students cope with strong pressure from family to “succeed,” while also dealing with culture shock and racism on campus. In order to help these students, she said, “We have to be more warm and less distant. That doesn’t mean we breach or overstep psychotherapy boundaries, but we have to assess the individual and the situation…Otherwise, they don’t come back.” Sheila Krishnan, campus prevention specialist at the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, agreed. “It’s important to create a culture of caring,” she said. “When big stakeholders are at the table like administrators, faculty, and staff, each interacts with the student in a different way. With that effort, if you’re a student in a place where people care, it can make a big difference.”
Spark Extra! Hear more from Dr. Eugenia Curet in a recent webinar on Promoting Help-Seeking among College Students: Strategies for Suicide Prevention.