With September 10 kicking off National Suicide Prevention Week, students are calling for more awareness about the counseling and mental health resources available for USC students.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in 2020 that suicide was the third leading cause of death for individuals between 15 to 24 years old in the United States. The CDC found that there were approximately 49,449 total suicide deaths in 2022, marking a 2.6% increase since 2021.

Students currently enrolled at USC have access to mental health services through USC Student Health, provided by faculty in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Keck School of Medicine. However, some USC students find them confusing and hard to utilize.

Taylor Ryan, a junior at USC studying NGOs and social change and a vocal advocate for suicide prevention, found the counseling services at USC Student Health “decently effective.” After losing her mother to suicide in 2017 when she was a freshman in high school, Ryan turned to USC Student Health to be referred to a therapist.

“They were kind of hard to navigate because I was under the impression that I would be directed to a therapist permanently at school, but it routes you out to another service, which is better for me in the long run. When you get connected, you don’t stay connected within USC, they kind of like outsource you,” Ryan said.

Ryan, who fundraises for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in honor of her mother, emphasized the benefit of providing remote options for these counseling services.

“I think the way that USC and other places go about it remotely now provides a bigger opportunity for people to get the resources they need if they know how to access those and even find them,” she said.

Taylor Ryan fundraises for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in many ways including by selling these stickers. (Photo courtesy of Taylor Ryan)

Some USC students, however, are unaware of how to access or find USC’s mental health resources.

Tiffany Lo, a senior studying communication at USC, named her external health insurance as a reason for her limited knowledge.

“I don’t use the USC Student Health plan, I use my family plan, so I waived the USC one. So I’m not really sure how that would come to play, like what I am allowed to use and what I’m not allowed to use when it comes to counseling and if it’s free or not,” Lo said.

Lo isn’t the only one unsure of the logistics behind USC Student Health services. Juny Romero, a freshman studying pharmacology and drug development, suggested that these services be more widely promoted.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a good thing if you have to go out of your way to find help. I’m not saying it should be everywhere, like on all the walls,” Romero said. “But if there’s more just, I don’t know, advertisement, it would be a lot more helpful than having to sit through a website and then find the number to call.”

Dr. Kelly Greco, the embedded counselor for USC Annenberg, shed some light on the services that USC Student Health offers and how students can access them.

“The majority of students pay for the Student Health Center fee, and so everyone is able to access the services at Student Health.” Greco said.”So it’s a great starting point to see what you need and what would be the best fit of service. No one is turned away.”

The Student Health Fee is automatically included each semester on the student account invoice and cannot be waived. Students enrolled only in online classes are excluded from the fee but can opt in if they are a current California resident.

“Workshops, Let’s Talk, crisis services, if you have an urgent matter, need a walk-in, if you need to schedule an intake — all of that is part of the Student Health Center fee. So you have access to those services,” Greco said.

Students can sign up for Let’s Talk — a service in which students can have a 30-minute conversation with a clinician from Counseling and Mental Health — in person or virtually through usc.edu/myshr. More information can be found at USC Counseling & Mental Health Services.

“If you have a crisis urgent matter, you can always call the (213) 740-WELL number. But we also have a text crisis line where you text TROJAN to 741741,” Greco added. “Again, the more resources you have, the better to be very accessible to a large community like USC. So that’s something that I would really encourage students to access or tell a friend about as well.”

If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, text or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

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August 23, 2023

3 min read

Source/Disclosures

Disclosures:
Moreno and colleagues report no relevant financial disclosures.

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Key takeaways:

• PCPs who received social media counseling were more likely to advise their young patients about safety behaviors.
• Patients said they remembered lessons from their PCPs 6 months later.

Children and adolescents who received social media counseling from trained primary care physicians reported reductions in unsafe social media behaviors and greater communication with parents, a recent study found.

“This study idea arose from the voices of pediatricians within the AAP,” Megan A. Moreno, MD, MSEd, MPH, a professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, told Healio. “They shared that they understood that social media was becoming more important in the lives of teens. Pediatricians wanted to know what they needed to know, and what kind of counseling would be effective. So, the study was designed to test both the role of the pediatrician, and the impact on patients.”

In May, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA released an advisory urging for greater actions to ensure safer social media use among children and adolescents. Despite such calls to action, Moreno and colleagues noted that PCPs lack training on social media counseling.

“A study of pediatric residents found that only 5% felt they had adequate training on media use and children,” they wrote in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

To improve training within clinical settings, the researchers conducted a cluster randomized control trial that exposed PCPs to either a social media counseling intervention (SCMI) or a tobacco cessation intervention, which served as an active control group.

In the SCMI, PCPs were given an online safety brochure and learned about concepts such as balancing offline and online time, being mindful when posting content and ensuring youth and parents communicate about online experiences.

The researchers enrolled 120 primary care practices and 249 PCPs between 2011 to 2013. Of the PCPs, 88% were pediatricians and 12% were nurse practitioners or physician assistants.

The analysis also included 1,937 pediatric patients who were selected for follow up, 992 of whom completed a 6-month interview after the intervention.

Moreno and colleagues found that PCPs in the SCMI group were more likely to report social media counseling (beta = 1.43; 95% CI, 1.1-1.7), and SCMI training was linked to higher odds of an adolescent receiving any social media counseling (OR = 4.94; 95% CI, 3.83-6.37).

Compared with youth whose PCPs were given a tobacco cessation intervention, youth whose PCP received the SMCI were:

• twice as likely to report a decrease in online “friending” of strangers (adjusted OR = 2.23; 95% CI, 1.17-4.25);
• more likely to report communication with their parents or caregivers about social media use (aOR = 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.4); and
• more likely to report that their caregiver set rules for social media use (aOR = 1.2; 95% CI, 1-1.3).

At 6 months, youth said they remembered lessons from the PCP counseling, possibly “given the relevance and significance of social media to youth,” the researchers wrote.

Moreno said that it was exciting to find the positive association of communication between youth and parents.

“This was an ideal outcome for this type of study, as we know that parents can play an important role in supporting and guiding their children’s social media experiences,” she said.

She also noted that pediatricians “felt more confident and knowledgeable talking about social media with their patients.”

“We hope that the training involved in this study will impact those pediatricians even beyond the study period,” she added.

There were several limitations to the study, according to the researchers. For example, the data were self-reported, potentially resulting in bias, and the study sample for SCMI may not have been representative of the U.S. youth population.

Still, “for PCPs, this study supports the importance of their role in helping families center on the importance of media in children’s lives and health,” Moreno said. “The training for PCPs was well received and the study suggests it can have a big impact for pediatrician practices and patient outcomes.”

The next steps for this research will include implementing AAP’s Family Media Plan, an online resource families can use to set rules and guidelines on social media, into pediatrician counseling “to see if this enhances the outcomes,” Moreno said.

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Author: Elishae Johnson, PhD, LPC, CAADC, Psychotherapist, Bronson HelpNet Director

Mental and emotional well-being are important factors in your overall health. When life feels difficult, you don’t have to struggle alone. Speaking with a behavioral health counselor offers the opportunity to get help from an unbiased person who is specially trained to help you work through problems.

Counseling can be beneficial for people of all ages.

• Adults and seniors can benefit from speaking with a counselor to help them process difficult emotions, learn to cope better, set goals for the future and explore the impact of past experiences. Counseling can help adults and seniors foster better relationships and have a more fulfilling life.
• For adolescents, talking with a counselor can help them navigate the transition from childhood to adulthood. It can help them work through issues at home, at school or in their social life.
• Young children sometimes need help learning how to express and process their feelings. If a child is having trouble in school or at home, counseling can help them gain skills to make life easier.

What to expect

The first time you meet with your counselor will be filled with lots of questions. This helps your counselor get to know you and understand your current situation. Counselors are trained to listen and help you process your feelings and thoughts. A counselor can help with:

• Anxiety and chronic stress
• Depression, including post-traumatic stress disorder
• Eating disorders
• Family and relationship struggles
• Life changes
• Substance abuse and smoking cessation
• Work-related challenges
• And more

Common Types of Therapy

One-on-One Counseling

During this type of counseling, you meet with your counselor in private. You are in control of the conversation and what you want to work on. Your counselor is there to listen, provide emotional support and help you learn coping skills.

Couples and Family Counseling

Problems within a relationship or family can cause stress, anxiety and fear. Talking with a counselor is a great way to learn, grow and heal. As a small group, you and your loved one(s) will share your stories, feelings and concerns. Your counselor is there to listen and help you find new ways to work together.

There are many forms of therapy that counselors use to help patients. The most common are cognitive-behavioral counseling (CBT) and dialectical behavior counseling (DBT).

CBT helps people learn how to change their thoughts and behaviors in order to cope with stress and anxiety. It focuses on teaching new skills to manage emotions and thoughts. In a CBT session, you and your counselor work together to identify and challenge negative thought patterns.

For example, a client comes to my office feeling anxious about an upcoming job interview. They are sure they are going to mess it up and not get the job. As their counselor, I help them identify these anxious thoughts and what may be causing them. I then challenge the patient by helping them find reasons that dispute their anxieties such as thinking of times they’ve had interviews in the past that lead to a job. Replacing negative thoughts with ones that are more true and balanced help to gain a more rational perspective. They are now feeling less anxious for their job interview and have the tools to cope with anxiety next time it arises.

DBT helps people learn how to control emotions and reduce distress. It combines CBT with mindfulness and acceptance-based strategies. In a DBT session, I may introduce a patient to a relaxation technique like mindfulness. I will teach my patient new exercises like grounding or box breathing. The goal is to help the patient learn the techniques to help ease negative thoughts whenever they arise.

Is Counseling Right for You?

When life feels difficult you don’t have to go through it alone. Having an experienced and compassionate counselor can give you the knowledge and tools you need to reach your goals and achieve personal growth.

If you’re unsure about counseling, it’s best to start by consulting with a counselor to talk about your concerns. They can provide you with answers to questions and guidance on the type of therapy that may be best for your unique situation.

Bronson HelpNet offers counseling services in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. Services are available for everyone ages 5+. Please call for availability. To learn more, visit bronsonhealth.com/counseling.

Call to Schedule Your Appointment Today

Dial (269) 245-3580

Priscila Dieguez-Moya, LPC, MA

My Approach to Care
“It is an honor to work with my patients and help them adopt behavioral changes better suited to their environment and life conditions.”

Learn More about Priscila

Speaks English and Spanish.

Louis McCroskey, LLP, MA

My Approach to Care
“It is an honor to work with my patients and help them adopt behavioral changes better suited to their environment and life conditions.”

Learn More About Louis

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