Enhancing Mental Health Support at UMD: A Proposal for Long-Term Counseling Services

Higher EducationMental Health Policy

A proposal addressed to the director of the University of Maryland Counseling Center, arguing that a cap of eight individual sessions per student leaves a gap for students who need longer-term care, and that the gap is wider than short-term models can close.

It reviews how other universities handle the problem, including multi-track counseling, virtual services, peer-support programs and referral to off-campus providers, and recommends combining these models to offer sustained support. A reflection memo and audience analysis accompany the proposal.

Sessions per student

UMD's cap stops four sessions short of even a short CBT course

Allowed at UMDcap: 8CBT course: 12–20psychodynamic: no fixed limit →

048121620

92%

of surveyed UMD undergraduates said the pandemic hurt their mental health

Stepped care

the proposal’s cornerstone: self-help and peer support up to therapy and psychiatric care

From the proposal: individual counselling is “limited to a maximum of eight sessions per student”; cognitive behavioural therapy courses “typically range between 12 and 20 sessions”; psychodynamic therapy is “not constrained by a fixed time limit.” Survey figure from The Diamondback (2021).