2008 Woodie Awards
Counseling Center promotes new student support groups
Courtney Kretz
Issue date: 4/8/04 Section: Features
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Approximately 90 million people in the United States suffer from chronic illness, and 17.5 million Americans suffer from clinical depression. The Marist Counseling Center knows this and wants to help.
Even if you are just suffering from the everyday stressors of life, the Counseling Center is there. This is why the center is providing two new weekly student support groups, in addition to their numerous other services.
Growing Through Grief is geared toward helping students overcome their grief as a result of losing a family member or friend. Bouncing Back helps chronically ill students cope with their continuing health issues.
Both groups began meetings the first week of March, but still welcome students to join at any time.
Last semester the Counseling Center, in conjunction with Campus Ministry, trained students in Peer Loss Support. In the process the center learned that there were hundreds of students interested in learning about grief.
According to counselor Andrea Raphael-Paskey, who heads both groups, many students wanted to learn how to deal with their own personal experiences as well.
"There was overwhelming student interest in learning more and seeing a group," Raphael-Paskey said.
From there, Growing Through Grief and Bouncing Back were created.
The Counseling Center realizes that when a person is faced with the death of a loved one, they experience many emotions that are difficult to deal with. These feelings such as denial, despair, sadness, confusion, abandonment, anger, or guilt, in addition to dealing with everyday stressors, can be overwhelming for a person.
Growing Through Grief emphasizes the notion that these feelings and emotions are a normal part of the grieving process, and can be worked through.
The group facilitators, Raphael-Paskey and Yvonne Poley, attempt to normalize these emotions for the students and help them cope in two phases. In the first phase, the groups discuss the stages of grief and the common emotions and responses that one may experience. In the second phase the individuals in the group confront their feelings in hopes of working through them.
Even if you are just suffering from the everyday stressors of life, the Counseling Center is there. This is why the center is providing two new weekly student support groups, in addition to their numerous other services.
Growing Through Grief is geared toward helping students overcome their grief as a result of losing a family member or friend. Bouncing Back helps chronically ill students cope with their continuing health issues.
Both groups began meetings the first week of March, but still welcome students to join at any time.
Last semester the Counseling Center, in conjunction with Campus Ministry, trained students in Peer Loss Support. In the process the center learned that there were hundreds of students interested in learning about grief.
According to counselor Andrea Raphael-Paskey, who heads both groups, many students wanted to learn how to deal with their own personal experiences as well.
"There was overwhelming student interest in learning more and seeing a group," Raphael-Paskey said.
From there, Growing Through Grief and Bouncing Back were created.
The Counseling Center realizes that when a person is faced with the death of a loved one, they experience many emotions that are difficult to deal with. These feelings such as denial, despair, sadness, confusion, abandonment, anger, or guilt, in addition to dealing with everyday stressors, can be overwhelming for a person.
Growing Through Grief emphasizes the notion that these feelings and emotions are a normal part of the grieving process, and can be worked through.
The group facilitators, Raphael-Paskey and Yvonne Poley, attempt to normalize these emotions for the students and help them cope in two phases. In the first phase, the groups discuss the stages of grief and the common emotions and responses that one may experience. In the second phase the individuals in the group confront their feelings in hopes of working through them.