Brandi Gibson (Source: The Campus archives)
Students and university officials are working to establish better mental health services and access on campus.
Brandi Gibson, director of university counseling, serves at the director of the behavior intervention team.
Click here to read more on the team’s objectives and members.
“I provide feedback regarding mental health issues if there’s a student in question or a safety issue in question,” she said. “I can give background information on mental health disorders and what signs and symptoms we may see in someone who is experiencing a crisis.”
The university police department is equipped to handle any crises in which a student may put themselves or others in immediate danger, Gibson said.
“Many of our guys are CIT trained, which means they are critical incident teams or crisis management teams,” she said. “They’ve gone through their own 40-hour training, so they know how to respond to mental health crises.”
Gibson said she most often helps students cope with homesickness, relationship issues, problems with roommates and depression.
“Many times people are unaware of what depression can look like,” Gibson said. “Females manifest it differently than males, so I’m helping them identify what it is they are actually feeling.”
The counselors work hard to break the stigma surrounding mental health and want to let students know that there is nothing shameful or wrong about seeing a counselor, she said.
“We’re ignored because people don’t want to be seen in the counseling clinic,” Gibson said. “We’re working really hard on breaking that stigma because mental health issues are more common than people want to believe. It’s just like going to see a doctor.”
Gibson said the counselors also are responsible for training resident assistants in suicide prevention.
“The RAs are really my eyes on the ground,” she said. “I may send an RA to check on someone and they are trained to notice signs of someone who may be starting to have problems.”
Sean Burroughs, resident assistant in Methodist Hall, said he feels confident in his ability to handle mental health crises that may occur with his residents.
Students who are contemplating suicide often exhibit certain signs and symptoms in advance of any suicide attempts, Burroughs said. The resident assistants go through training to learn about potential signs of mental illness.
“We look out for cleanliness,” he said. “It goes beyond having a messy room. When people don’t care about their lifestyle, it can translate into a bigger problem.”
Burroughs said resident assistants are trained to intervene before a crisis occurs.
“All of what we do is about prevention before anything extreme happens,” he said. “We look out for signs because so often you can tell that something is going to go wrong before it actually happens.”
Burroughs said Gibson has more than adequately prepared him to handle students in crises, but he is concerned that the counseling office may be understaffed.
“You have a few counselors serving a school with several thousand students,” he said. “I can’t imagine that they have enough time to help all the students who need it.”
The university employs two full-time counselors and two part-time staff members. More than 4,000 students are enrolled.
All students are entitled to six free counseling sessions per semester. Click here to contact the university counselors. If there is an emergency, call OCUPD at 405.208.5911.
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