黑料视频

December 21, 2024
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CCPA faculty, students develop solutions to improve mental health

Research-based approaches are making an impact on campus and in the community

Jessica Laymon, MSW '22 Jessica Laymon, MSW '22
Jessica Laymon, MSW '22 Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.

As discussions of mental health become more open, the 黑料视频 College of Community and Public Affairs (CCPA) is taking a leading role in developing research-based approaches to improve the well-being of students and their families.

CCPA faculty and students are not only working within their own areas of expertise, but in collaboration with partners across the University and in the community. This interdisciplinary approach results in powerful and effective solutions to address various topics related to mental health.

While they only scratch the surface of the work being done, these unique examples highlight the real impact CCPA is having on classrooms, the community and students鈥 lives.

Impacting students

When preschool elementary school students feel angry or overwhelmed and need help working through their feelings, Tracy Lyman 鈥99, MSEd 鈥01, a certified elementary and special education teacher who is also a lecturer in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Educational Leadership (TLEL), encourages them to 鈥渢hink like a turtle.鈥

Take a cue from 鈥淭ucker Turtle,鈥 Lyman tells them: 鈥淭uck into your shell. Take three breaths to help calm down. Once your head is clear, you can think of a positive solution.鈥

In this case, 鈥淭ucker鈥 is a green handheld puppet Lyman uses in her teaching. In her mental health and education course at 黑料视频, she uses methods like the scripted research-based story of 鈥淭ucker Turtle鈥 and his namesake puppet to show teachers-in-training unique ways of helping preschool and elementary school students improve their well-being during difficult moments.

鈥淭here is a strong research base behind social-emotional learning and for schools that integrate this work, their students are more connected to school,鈥 Lyman says. 鈥淔or children, we are preparing them to be ready to learn and be more independent as they become problem solvers and have more successful interactions with peers and adults. This will support them as they move through school and then continue to build these skills into adulthood.鈥

Lyman also works with 黑料视频 students in her class to show them how teachers can integrate well-being practices into their classroom activities and become better attuned to their students鈥 needs.

鈥淚f students are in a school environment where there鈥檚 bullying or students getting kicked out of classrooms, that鈥檚 going to impact everyone鈥檚 mental health and won鈥檛 make anyone feel safe or comfortable at school,鈥 Lyman says.

She adds, 鈥淲e need social workers when there are bigger issues, but teachers who want to help students can teach them to say, 鈥橧鈥檓 having a hard time and I need a break.鈥 When that becomes part of the routine, the students feel less stressed. They feel more connected.鈥

Impacting the learning environment

One of the ways John Zilvinskis, associate professor of student affairs administration, builds connections with college students struggling with mental health challenges is by leaning on what he鈥檚 learned in his own research.

Zilvinskis, who studies issues affecting students with disabilities, including those tied to mental health, says students are more likely to succeed in settings when they feel welcome to discuss their problems openly.

鈥淥ften, students carry stigma related to their disabilities, which prevents disclosing to faculty and finding solutions,鈥 Zilvinskis says. 鈥淚 try to address this in the classes I teach by describing my own learning and mental health disabilities. For some, this creates a lane for students to talk with me about theirs.鈥

In a study published earlier this year, Zilvinskis and his research collaborators used survey data from more than 6,000 first-year college students with disabilities to explore aspects of academic advising behaviors that impacted grades and student engagement.

The findings demonstrated effective academic advising contributed positively to grades and engagement, but their effectiveness depends on the student鈥檚 individual situation.

Based on his research, Zilvinskis says, it鈥檚 important for educators at all academic levels to be trained in the best approaches for promoting well-being practices.

鈥淓ducators need to realize that disabilities aren鈥檛 always clinically diagnosed,鈥 Zilvinskis says. 鈥淚nstead, disability is slippery, especially for students with mental health conditions who may have disparate environments, events and capital influencing their success in managing them.鈥

Impacting the University

For 黑料视频鈥檚 Residential Life staff, a pilot program started in 2019 has expanded into a specialized, trained referral program that allows social work interns to provide case management services for students in distress.

It has allowed Master of Social Work (MSW) students like Jessica Laymon, MSW 鈥22 to learn while making a positive impact on the campus community.

鈥淢ental health is no different than your physical health, in that they both affect your well-being,鈥 she says.

Interns in the program each work with up to 25 Binghamton students at a time in figuring out the best ways to address personal struggles such as anxiety, depression or other hurdles tied to college life.

Laymon, who graduated from the MSW program in December 2022 and is a senior caseworker in Broome County鈥檚 Department of Social Services, quickly realized that helping college students navigate their problems isn鈥檛 the kind of difficult conversation she鈥檇 begin in an examination room.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about building a rapport with the students and getting them comfortable,鈥 she says.

This individualized approach would often take the form of meeting students at a coffee shop or talking about hobbies and other interests first. Students feel more comfortable talking about their problems once they feel relaxed, she says.

Underway for a few years now, the program continues to yield promising results for both the MSW interns and students living on campus.

鈥淒ealing with your mental health is just part of having a normal experience in life,鈥 says Jessica Treadwell, MSW 鈥16, assistant director of student support in Residential Life and a licensed master social worker who supervises the MSW interns. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e going through difficult times, you need somebody to help you navigate through that.鈥

Impacting the community

Beyond the campus community, researchers in the Department of Social Work have found other unique ways to assist families facing challenges accessing much-needed mental health support.

Aided by a SUNY Prepare Innovation Grant, Associate Professor of Social Work Youjung Lee, doctoral student and incoming social work faculty member Kelley Cook and CCPA Dean Laura Bronstein collaborated in 2020 to develop a telemental health service. Its goal was to provide virtual mental health services for local children and families, primarily in rural areas with little access to services.

The program partnered with 黑料视频 Community Schools to engage with local families, resulting in around 30 of them being referred through the service.

Before the pandemic, Lee says, telemental health services were viewed as secondary or optional. But given the success of this model, she says social work students should be trained in it just as they are trained for in-person practice.

One of the most effective approaches to helping families through the telemental health service was to simplify strategies for addressing seemingly complex problems, Cook says.

For example, if parents were struggling with their child having outbursts because of anxiety and difficulty getting to school, but that same child was able to stay calm and organized when going to bed by a specific time the night before 鈥 social workers like Cook would help those parents adapt the practices that proved successful at bedtime into their morning routines.

鈥淚 think that creates a space for the individual or family to take ownership, because then it鈥檚 from them. We鈥檙e implementing solution-focused practices to help clients identify past successes

and exceptions to problems,鈥 Cook says. 鈥淲e aim to create a context for change and bolster solutions, so a client can find workable solutions to problems.鈥

Posted in: Health, CCPA