Graduate students hold several positions in the Counseling and Psychological Services' office, and some say speaking to a graduate student can be beneficial.
When students visit Ohio University’s Counseling and Psychological Services office, licensed counselors are not the only ones they can talk to.
Graduate students hold several positions in the office, and some say speaking to a graduate student might even be more beneficial.
Michelle Pride, the training director at CPS, said there are many bonuses to having graduate students work with students at CPS, including that they are still pursuing their education and bringing cutting-edge methods to the office.
“There’s so many bonuses,” Pride said. “This person is right in the middle of the training. They’re there learning all this new stuff. … I also just think they’re a lot more connected to the sociocultural environment.”
Within CPS, there are three doctoral psychology interns, two clinical counselor graduate assistantships, two to three clinical psychology trainees, two to three counselor education practicum and internship students and one master’s of social work student. All of those positions have different levels of responsibilities within CPS, and Pride said their time spent there is essential to their education. Some receive a salary, some receive stipends and some participate solely as a program requirement.
“We’re not using (them) as free labor,” Pride said. “This is — for every single one of them — an integral part of their training.”
Anyone who is not licensed is heavily supervised by those who are licensed within CPS, Pride said. She said the office digitally records sessions conducted by graduate students — something all students coming to CPS for services are made aware of and must consent to.
“It is in accordance with Ohio law, and it is also to make sure we’re providing the best services to students who come here,” Pride said. “We don’t use those (recordings) to teach classes. We don’t keep the videos for years and years. They’re erased usually every couple weeks, and there’s no access to the internet, so they can’t be posted anywhere.”
Pride also noted that everybody providing clinical services within CPS is bound by confidentiality.
“I think this is a really safe environment because there’s a lot of checks and balances,” Pride said. “There are people paying attention to what’s going on. … We’re available to consult with if there’s a difficult situation.”
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Thomas Zigo, a second-year graduate student in the master’s of social work program, is one of the graduate students working at CPS. He has 17 to 21 clients who he meets with regularly, in addition to other duties, such as covering drop-in hours, attending individual and group supervisions and working on outreach to reduce stigma. He said some students have a personal preference as to who they want to speak with.
“I’ve worked with students who say, ‘I don’t feel comfortable with this. I want to work with a professional, someone older,’ ” Zigo said. “And I’ve had some students on the other end of the spectrum who saym ‘Yeah, I’m glad I’m not meeting with someone who is older. That would make me uncomfortable.’ ”
Pride said there are benefits to a client interacting with a graduate student.
“There are people who are going to connect with someone who is closer to their own age,” Pride said. “When you’re sitting across from someone and use the language you usually use, and they totally get it. … For some people that feels more comfortable.”
Kaitlin Janes, a sophomore studying communication, said she understands why some people might feel more comfortable talking to graduate students at CPS.
“I think that would be beneficial — having someone a little closer to my own age rather than a professor or teacher’s (age),” Janes said.
Zigo said he has enjoyed working with his clients at CPS.
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“I love working with the students because they’re so resilient,” he said. “This is a time in their life when they’re making decisions to kind of set the groundwork for what they’ll be doing. That’s very meaningful to me.”
He said watching students overcome their struggles has been rewarding.
“I think all those students face a lot of challenges,” Zigo said. “They will survive these challenges. That’s something that’s rewarding for me to see.”
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