Tag Archives: mental health

Mental Health and the Undocumented Student: An Interview with Violeta A. Murrieta

Posted on by | Leave a reply

OSU Counseling student Violeta A. Murrieta’s research centers on how school counselors support undocumented students with their social-emotional needs, academic needs, post-secondary options, and community resources. As part of the College of Education’s recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, we interviewed Violeta via email to learn what she’s discovering about the stressors this unique population.

College of Education: Thank you for joining us, Violeta. Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what you are studying and researching at Oregon State University?

Violeta: Sure! I am currently a doctoral candidate pursuing a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision here at Oregon State. I have been a school counselor for over nine years and I am licensed in California and Nevada. Currently, I work as an elementary school counselor in the Bay Area. I love being a counselor, I enjoy helping students and working with families. I am passionate about supporting the undocumented population, as a former high school counselor I witnessed the difficulties undocumented students experienced and how difficult it was for them to explore post-secondary options with their status looming over them. When I was accepted in the PhD program, I knew right away I wanted my research to focus on the undocumented population. Therefore, my current studies aim to explore how school counselors support undocumented students with their social-emotional needs, academic needs, and post-secondary options given the unique stressors they experience both in and out of school.

College of Education: Adolescence is a tough time for anyone, but do undocumented students have some unique stressors on them?

Violeta: Undocumented youth absolutely experience additional stressors, such as, adapting to a new culture, language barriers, limited postsecondary and work options, trauma, and fear of deportation amongst other things. Living with this uncertainty can exasperate other issues as well. The stressors that undocumented students face impact all aspects of their life, and this is why I am curious about how school counselors support this population. 

College of Education: What kind of barriers to treatment might a school counselor have when dealing with an undocumented student? 

Violeta: There are many barriers that school counselors face when attempting to support undocumented students. When referring students to mental health services, students and their families are hesitant to seek these resources due to possibly having to disclose their status, lack of insurance, and lack of official identification. Another barrier may be stigma around mental health.

College of Education: The College of Education is doing a lot of research around how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted K-12 schools and students over the last three years. How were undocumented students affected by the pandemic? Did they encounter some challenges unique to their situations?

Violeta: Undocumented families were largely affected by the pandemic, parents and guardians lost their jobs and they were not eligible for government assistance, which resulted in housing and food insecurity.

College of Education: There has always been a stigma around mental health concerns in this country. What can K-12 counselors do to help mitigate feelings of shame or embarrassment among any students who may have emotional or mental health concerns?

Violeta: As a school counselor, it is imperative to normalize feelings from an early age. I present classroom curriculum lessons on social emotional learning to all grade levels. We practice coping strategies and have discussions about how to express our feelings. My hope is that by normalizing this, students will feel more comfortable discussing their feelings and reaching out for help.

College of Education: What’s one big message you’d really like K-12 school personnel to know about mental health and their students?

Violeta: I am a firm believer that in order for students to be successful in school (i.e. academics) we must tend to their mental well-being first. It is important for educators to be knowledgeable about signs of distress. We have the privilege of connecting with students every day, if you recognize or have an inclination that something is wrong, reach out to a school counselor immediately. 

Mental Health Hero

Posted on by | Leave a reply

 


Ryan Reese is the head of our counseling program at OSU-Cascades and he recently received the Mental Health Hero Award throughTrillium Health Services. This is a statewide award where the organization honors 31 different “heroes” each day of May (Mental Health Awareness Month). Here is the website where they include information about theawards and the full list of recipients:

https://trilliumfamily.org/…/keep-oregon-well-announces-fu…/

They will include Reese’s information profile at the Trillium homepage on May 25th. https://trilliumfamily.org/

 

100 Years of Counseling

Posted on by | 1 Reply

The counseling program at OSU has come a long way since the founder, Professor Frank H. Shepherd, taught the first counseling course during the Spring Semester of 1917. This year, Oregon State University’s College of Education’s Counseling program is proud to announce the celebration of its 100th anniversary.

Entering the 100th year of counseling, Cass Dykeman shares, that “the centennial is a chance for all of Oregon to celebrate the pivotal role the citizens of the State have played in the continuous development of this profession, [which is] so vital to the health of the nation.” Cass Dykeman, the Associate Professor in Counselor Education at OSU’s College of Education, has been a part of the program’s development since 1998.

After receiving a Master’s in Educational Psychology with a School Counseling concentration and a Doctorate in Counselor Education, Dykeman pursued his passion in the following years as a counselor educator, and as an elementary school and high school counselor in Washington. Although he loves his current job, he admits that he “miss[es] playing football with the kids at recess. You don’t get recess teaching doctoral students!”

Today, Dykeman continues his work as an Associate Professor in the program. His favorite part of the program is working with doctoral students on their dissertations because, “helping advanced students create new knowledge is a thrill” for him. He enjoys the manuscript style of the dissertations, because many of the doctoral students publish their efforts in peer-reviewed journals. Rebecca Bolante is one of Cass’ prior students who has produced two peer-reviewed journal articles from her dissertation about Threat Assessment. Dykeman has already served as a major professor for 24 PhD graduates, and says, “[his] goal is to hit 50 by the time [he] retire[s].”

Dykeman understands that pursuing a doctorate is an overall large investment; but finds the Counseling program unique because, it has offered “distance hybrid education since 1933” and is ranked third oldest for continuously operating counselor education program in the world. Dykeman adds that, the program is “high quality and [has] a proven track record.”