News
Staff changes announced for Health, Counseling Centers
By Dillon Kelly ’18 and Kirsty Warren ’18
February 4, 2016
Tags news
This January, the Health Center hired a new medical doctor. The Counseling Center doubled the psychiatrist’s hours and hired an additional part-time counselor. There is a plan in place to build a new Health and Counseling Center, tentatively opening August 2018; however, the current Health Center has already undergone multiple changes that will have a significant impact on the student body.
Firstly, Dr. Aimee Pearce has left the College and accepted a position with Bassett Healthcare in Oneida, NY. Jeff Landry, associate dean of students for health and safety, stated that “in order to have M.D. coverage in the health center we have contracted with Dr. Toby Taylor from St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center. Dr. Taylor will work with our Health Center on a visiting basis and will see students on Thursday afternoons [from 1 p.m to 4 p.m.]”
Barb Fluty, P.A. has remained as the primary provider in the Health Center, and the College is currently searching for an additional provider for the center.
When asked about the lack of a permanent doctor working at Hamilton, one student Hannah Meisels ’18 reacted, “It concerns me that someone who potentially was in an emergency situation could not meet with a doctor because of the inconsistent hours.”
The Counseling Center will also see some changes this semester. Psychiatrist, Dr. Sascha Arbouet ’99, will increase her hours from 10 to 20 hours per week. Director of the Counseling Center Dr. David Walden said that doubling Arbouet’s hours was a response to student demand.
“By far the biggest growth area [in Counseling Center demand] was in psychiatry,” Walden said. “We have students who are coming in and are on medication and may need monitoring while they are here, and we have students who are not on any prescriptions when they come but at some point during their college career they want to consider medication as an adjunct to therapy. The doubling of the hours is really a recognition of that segment of our population, the need that students have for these services.”
“One thing about Sascha that I really love and why I think we’re lucky to have her is that sometimes there’s a stereotype of psychiatrists as just doing a quick meeting and then writing a prescription, but Sasha is very interpersonally focused,” Walden continued. “Partially by virtue of having been a student here and understanding the landscape of the campus, and also by virtue of who she is, students are getting that prescription and that management but they’re also touching base with someone who is interested in their experiences and focused on them as a whole person.”
The Counseling Center has also added a part-time counselor and opened up an additional office space on the first floor of the Azel Backus House. The part-time counselor, Heather Lester, works for ten hours a week on Mondays and Wednesdays.
“It’s really helping quite a bit and is offsetting the increase in demand,” Walden told The Spectator. The addition of Lester and the doubling of Arbouet’s hours necessitated another office space, as the Counseling Center itself has only four office spaces.
“Part of the challenge that we faced even when Sascha was here in the fall for just ten hours (a week) was finding space for her to come in,” Walden said. “What it meant was that a lot of us were trying to carve out time and stay late. Having this extra space allows us flexibility we didn’t have before.”
In addition to more hours, the Counseling Center will be offering groups every afternoon and evening Monday through Thursdays. They will be offering four interpersonal process groups, one group for students of color facilitated by Arbouet and one LGBTQIAA group.
The Counseling Center began offering group counseling two years ago. According to Walden, group counseling was added because it is an “excellent treatment modality” for interpersonal anxieties, and also enables the Counseling Center to accommodate more demand on a more regular basis. Walden attributed the success of the groups program to coordinator Dennis LaLonde, Psy. D.
“We can see more students in groups, and they can come in every week whereas when we get very busy, for individual sessions they might only be seen every two weeks,” Walden said.
This year, the Center is offering a record five groups. “On a small campus like ours, to be able to run five groups, it might even jump up to six or seven throughout the semester, is really incredible. Part of that, I want to give credit to the students. When you introduce a new ‘therapy language,’ if you will, sometimes it takes people time to adjust. But we’ve just been so impressed by students’ engagement with group as a preferred treatment.”
Looking forward, Walden said that when the new Health Center opens and the Health and Counseling Centers share a space, Hamilton will be in a position of offering “holistic and collaborative services.”
“When you look at colleges and universities across the country, there are some that have that kind of collaboration between health and counseling, but it’s not as common as you might think. We have a real opportunity at Hamilton to provide a level of care that sets us apart from our peers.”
On the topic of this year’s senior class gift, Walden said it focused on wellness offerings ranging from integrating psychological and physical well-being to working on diversity issues with students.