Hmmm...interesting approach by the university to email students and lay out the data for the cost of no shows. I think that characterizing this as “hurtful” is over the top.
In my college counseling experience, honestly I needed a no show or two just to have a break when my schedule was full and I already did one set crisis walk in hour per week plus several intakes, individual sessions, and group therapy, etc., but yes, it takes away the hour from other students and increases wait times.
I think this article, by focusing on no shows, misses the bigger point, which is that counseling centers need several more staff and more funding (administrations tend to balk at this despite the consistent trend in students utilizing more and more mental health services on campus every year), not necessarily focusing on the rare no show as one bandaid approach to address a gaping wound in a lack of adequate funding.
Do I think pointing out the cost of no shows by emailing all students is passive aggressive and/or rude? I’m not sure....maybe? I’m used to students and administrations blaming counseling centers for anything mental health-related on campus, like when deaths by suicide on campus happen (even if the student wasn’t attending therapy), so honestly the unfair expectations placed on counseling centers puts me in more of a position in which I’d want to defend the counseling center.
Some students no show because there are real barriers to seeking care, and others are just more flighty and don’t prioritize it. When counseling is free and there’s no “no show fee,” this will just happen sometimes, and it still happens in my private practice from time to time even when I charge fees. I don’t think no shows are the real problem, though, because a small percentage of late cancellations and no shows happen everywhere. If your university has higher than average no shows, then sure, look at little ways to reduce them. But don’t overlook the bigger issue, which is that counseling centers were tasked with advertising their services on campus in a big push in the past few decades and it worked....but now we need more therapists because it worked. Administrations need to be willing to spend more as a result if they expect more students to be seen and wait times to decline. I know of wait times of anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months just to get an intake; 2 months in college counseling is halfway through the semester.
Edit: also mulling over the idea that we simply expect too much from universities as our one-stop shop for students’ increasing mental health needs, as
@WisNeuro mentions. I think this is also a valid concern. So maybe the issue isn’t just funding, but how we approach mental health care in college in general and who bears responsibility.
