Keeping students safe is a university's main responsibility. However, protecting a student's mental health is just as important as shielding their physical well-being. Universities like North Carolina’s (UNC) Chapel Hill and Stony Brook University are changing this by focusing on aiding their journalism students through their internal struggles.
Journalism students go out on the field and cover anything from traumatic to happy news. They spend hours interviewing people about their struggles, yet have to suppress their own, whether this be life outside of the field or the grueling work they face in it.
Therapist Carolyn Ebeling at The Hussman School of Journalism at UNC Chapel Hill specializes in helping journalism students cope with their day to day struggles.
“Students enjoy having dedicated staff members and having access to a person who is there for them when they need,” Ebeling said.
She claims the help can she can give students consists of the following:
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Individual brief therapy
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Helping students branch out to other types of therapy
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Accessibility (students don’t have to leave the school)
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Greater variety of appointment times
This received positive feedback from students as many came through her doors during the stressful periods of the semester like midterms and finals week.
Although Ebeling does not claim to be a specialist for imposter syndrome, students have come to her with this anxiety-related dilemma. She showed visual representations to affected students to highlight their achievements and encouraged them to reach out to friends and mentors so that they know they are not alone.
“It’s challenging to always compare yourself to others. It’s a reality and we can expect that. However, just because you made a mistake doesn’t mean you are a mistake,” Ebeling continued.
The School of Communications and Journalism (SOCJ) at Stony Brook University does not have individualized therapy for their journalism students like UNC Chapel Hill. However, an innovative approach is aiding students to get out of their own head.
Within SOCJ there is the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. It is named after Alan Alda, a legendary actor in the hit show M*A*S*H who also went on to have a popular science show. He had a profound interest in the subject but found that leading scientists were not always good communicators. He teamed up with Stony Brook University's Center for Communicating Science and created the Alan Alda Method.
Alda believes in using improvisation, allowing scientists (and journalists) to accept what's in front of them and be present in the moment.
“Accept who you are, when it’s okay to be who you are, levels of stress are likely to go down,” said Radha Ganesan, a member of the Alda Center's multidisciplinary team.
The Alda Method, like a therapy session with Ebeling, does not specifically address imposter syndrome. However, by having a clear head through therapy and improv, thoughts of self- worth and doubts begin to lessen.
The efforts by UNC Chapel Hill and Stony Brook University to address their students' mental health can help lay the foundation for other universities to create their own unique methods to help their own students.