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December 2006 Parents Progress Archives Planning to Visit?
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Doses of compassion dispensed regularly at the Engle Center From the sniffles to the stomach flu, stress to sinusitis, Messiah College’s Engle Center for Counseling and Health Services is prepared to help students seeking medical or emotional support. Trained nurses, physicians, and counselors are available to consult with students seven days a week, 24-hours a day. So, whether it’s a sore throat or a stressful semester that is troubling a student, professional help is available, close, and, in most instances, free. Spencer Carter, residence director in Naugle Residence, says of the professionals who staff the Engle Center, “I’ve never been more impressed with a group of people.” Carter certainly has occasion to interact with the Center’s staff. Since students may be apprehensive about seeking help, resident assistants and residence directors often walk students through the process of connecting with the Engle Center. The fruitfulness of such guidance is evident. The Center was visited 7,800 times for health care during the 2005– 2006 academic year, reflecting contact with 73 percent of the student body. Besides being ideally located in the center of campus, the Engle Center is intentional about outreach and education. Staff providing both health and counseling expertise facilitate programs in residence halls and classrooms. Center staff estimate they reach about 2,000 students each year through educational programming. The Engle Center also provides numerous resources on its website (www.messiah.edu/ offices/engle_center) which allows students to self-diagnose minor ailments and review recommendations for the next step of care from the comfort of their dorm rooms.
Similarly, the counseling center uses a “brief, solution-focused model of counseling to identify problems and help students develop skills to solve their problem,” according to Phil Lawlis, director of the Engle Center for Health and Counseling Services and one of three full-time counselors on staff. All the counselors are Christians who integrate their faith with their practice of therapy. Following national trends, Lawlis and his colleagues have seen a rise in the number of depression cases and students using psychotropic medications. Last year, Engle Center counselors worked with 369 students, one quarter of whom were battling with depression. Navigating the boundaries of student privacy is an aspect of providing care about which the Engle Center is especially sensitive. A student’s explicit permission is needed in order for the Center to share information with anyone—parents, faculty, friends, residence life staff—unless the student could possibly harm himself/herself or others. Parents should feel welcome to contact the Center, according to Lawlis, if they are concerned for their student’s physical or emotional welfare. The Engle Center can certainly respond to such referrals and offer the necessary care.
Surveys conducted by the American College Health Association show that, of all sources of health information, students most trust their parents. Parents, even if hundreds of miles away, remain a critical element of a student’s care. With this in mind, the Engle Center is preparing to launch a section of its website just for parents. Similar to the site designed for students, the parents’ site will link to other resources on campus and provide fingertip access to information about health and medical issues most common on college campuses. Whether fighting the flu or facing the stress of finals, students have an ally in the Engle Center. The Engle Center’s caring and dedicated staff view their work as a ministry, and they stand prepared to help students. While germs and stress are unavoidable on any college campus, Messiah College parents can be assured that the Engle Center provides excellent support and resources to students. For more information about the Engle Center, please visit www.messiah.edu/offices/engle_center.
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