College is no easy feat. It has its high and lows, and through it are several people trying to figure it out. The great news is, you don’t have to do it alone. Counseling/therapy is one of the best resources available to help you navigate this time at most colleges and at little to no extra charge to students.
But why should college students seek out this resource? What are the benefits of therapy?
First and foremost, therapy is a great resource to help you learn the right skills to go through tough times. It can teach you the skills necessary to communicate how you feel, to understand others, to advocate for yourself, the skills to identify safe spaces/triggers, and overall skills to practice mindfulness as a positive habit. Gaining these skills sets you up to have an overall positive experience throughout your life. When we’re properly equipped, we’re more likely to do well!
On top of this, therapy is an excellent resource for stress management. It’s no secret that college does get stressful, so why not find a resource to manage and eliminate your stress? The first time living away from family, personal time management, heavier academic load, and trying to connect socially with new people are a few of the many stress triggers among college students. Attending therapy allows you to sort through the stressors to determine what’s relevant, and learn the right skills to manage your daily routines. Without therapy, these stressors may remain unchecked leading to anxiety and other mental health complications. Simply put, Therapy is a great resource to help students stay mentally and physically organized.
Aside from stress management, therapy can be a great tool to boost your mood. When struggling to navigate through college, you can sometimes find that you’re losing confidence in yourself. The stress, anxiety, depression amongst other things can be too much at times. Visiting the counseling center to receive therapy can be just the resource you need to regain confidence in yourself and your abilities. Everyone feels down sometimes and needs to be reminded to believe in themselves.
It has also been proven that therapy is positively correlated with academic performance. Working through what’s going on and creating an action plan goes a long way to improving academic performance. Research has found that “counseling is very effective in improving the students’ performance as well as their confidence.”
All in all, there are many reasons why every college student should seek out therapy. The awesome thing is, therapy is varying with each individual and it’s cal work flexibly with your life. There’s no harm in giving it a try and seeing how the benefits of therapy can help you!
