Freshmen are among the highest population of visitors to Boynton's mental health clinic. A newer cause for mental distress, documented in a 1996 Boynton survey, is the growing symptom of financial debt. Another survey on mental health, taken in the spring of 1996, found that almost 18 percent of 620 student respondents said they had experienced high credit card debt within the past year. The same survey also found that nearly 30 percent of the respondents suffered from either depression or anxiety. Both clinics offer help designed to fit a student's needs.
Counselors take into account each student's individual circumstances before providing help.
Through group and individual therapy, and classes and workshops, Counseling and Consulting Services teaches patients how to cope with different kinds of stress. Counselors also offer students an array of choices for solving problems, instead of giving them lists of directions. Loper also noted that because the center is located on campus, the counselors, some of whom are professors, know how to tailor their service to students because they work with them daily. We've become experts in the sorts of things that tend to plague high-functioning, highly competitive, highly perfectionistic people. For students, Boynton offers cognitive behavioral therapy, a form of treatment where patients assess their own habits and how they may be contributing to their problems.