| Description |
The current study assesses counseling centers on college and university campuses in their dealings with student veteran clients in a national sample (N=33) of college center directors. The National Center for Veterans Studies sponsored the study, and a total of 200 counseling center directors were approached for participation via an email survey with a response rate of 16.5%. We hypothesized that there would be a disparity between readiness to provide services and the needs of their clients. The response was mixed, as 55% responded as "somewhat prepared," 17% as "very prepared," 22% as "neither prepared nor unprepared," and 5% as somewhat unprepared. One concern that arose was that nearly half of the respondents indicated that PTSD was one of the most common psychological and emotional issues, but only 1 responded that training in prolonged exposure therapy or cognitive processing therapy, the two primary treatments of PTSD, had been taken by their center. As well, only 27% of respondents indicated that a member of the staff was designated as a student veteran expert, and only 39% responded that veterans present unique challenges. Responses from a subset of counseling center directors (n=13) indicated possible gender differences in frequency of social or behavioral issues. The implications of these findings will be discussed, with an emphasis on identifying student veterans' needs regarding some of the most frequent problems encountered by these centers, such as identifying the issues veterans may present with more frequently. |
