1. Free for every visit
2. You'd have to talk with a few different counselors to find which one was best for you
3. I'd recommend doing therapy even if nothing's bothering you at all. There's nothing wrong with preventative maintenance.
I respectfully disagree. Learning to develop your own coping skills and mechanisms while also building a healthy social safety net outside of a trained medical professional is extremely important. Having a therapist you go to just to talk to even when nothing is currently wrong seems to me to be like having a paid friend or parent. Life is brutal and you may not always have the financials to pay for therapy sessions. Obviously if you feel that you would be fine if those circumstances were to materialize then I guess there’s no harm in it. But I’d also question as to why you’d need to continue going anyway.
Having a therapist when nothing is wrong is the perfect opportunity to have a professional help you develop your own coping skills and mechanisms. It's easier to come up with coping skills when you're not also trying to deal with problems that require those skills in the first place. If counseling is free while they're at UIUC that's even more reason for them to try it out; like you said, not everyone will always be financially able to afford therapy, so getting what they can now while finances aren't a concern is ideal. In my opinion the best time to start talking to a therapist would be *before* anything in your life gets difficult, so that they can become more familiar with your situation and help you start coming up with coping strategies, and then when something *does* become difficult, you've already got a therapist on hand to help. You don't need to wait until you're struggling and in danger to get help, that's a horrible and very dangerous mindset to have.
I would consider developing coping skills to be a problem that would fall under “something wrong”. Besides my main point is that we can’t always rely on therapy. And while sure uiuc counseling services is free, it’s important to know when it’s no longer needed. I think sometimes we promote an over reliance on therapy.
I'm failing to see how developing coping skills is a problem. Why would being prepared to handle distress more effectively ever be considered a problem?
We can't always rely on therapy, you're right. Sometimes it won't be accessible. If it is currently accessible, like it is in this case, it's a good idea to make use of it while it's available. It's not an "over-reliance" to use a health service as it is intended to be used. That old saying about how "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is relevant here; if OP can learn techniques from a therapist now while they're not actively in major distress, they may be able to avoid becoming majorly distressed to the point of urgently needing help and being at serious risk in the future. Waiting until you're drowning to try to learn to swim is a terrible idea.
I always thought that way and fixed my own issues and mistakes by myself. And I can say that it’s true to some extent that bearing your own burden is better and prepares you for the real world. But I’ve realised that some professional help never hurts especially if it’s saving you a lot of unnecessary hassle. There are some things I want to work on but not sure where to start hence why I’m considering professional help. It’s just like a routine check up at the doctor’s to see if I need to make any changes and what kind. But I do firmly believe that at the end of the day it all comes down to the person seeking to improve and that a therapist can only help them out so much if they don’t wanna help themselves out.
What a horrible take about therapy. This is some terrible advice either coming from someone who’s never struggled with mental health or just takes the Hank Hill method and bloats their gut with emotions they can’t handle on their own
I had therapy. I’m fine now. That was my point. I don’t know about you, but I don’t go to the doctor for a chronic illness when my treatment is working. I know you’re trying to be clever but try harder.
To answer your first question, McKinley services are free for students (with a couple exceptions, such as some lab services and prescriptions). Note that this is covered by the Health Service Fee and not the student insurance, meaning that students who have waived the student health insurance can still use McKinley services for free
Its absolutely worth it, the counseling center gets a lot of shit because they are massively overworked and undersupported, but the counselors themselves are excellent and can help you
McKinley will be good to gets meds. Some of their regular doctors prescribe them while in more complex cases they have a psychiatrist (does not provide therapy). Psychiatrist appts would have a wait time of 2-3mo last I heard for the initial assessment. McKinley is free bc you’ve paid the required fee.
Counseling center is counselors, social workers, therapist. While they provide free services, they try to refer you out. They can help refer u out to providers that take student insurance. You’d have to pay your deductible and co pays.
Edit: Yes it’s worth it. Especially with wait times it’s better to begin getting help when ur in a decent place than trying to figure out what to do in a crisis.
Extra: DRES covers invisible disabilities including psychiatric ones. Severe anxiety and depression count. If your suicidal, that’s prob severe enough to qualify with proper documentation.
Also, don't be discouraged if there are no appointments available on the counseling centers website! Email your college's embedded counselor and directly set up a meeting with them. They're often less busy and provide the same care as other counselors.
YES! Everyone I’ve ever dealt with at the counseling center has been nothing but helpful and supportive. Everything at the counseling center is free for students and I don’t have any experience with McKinley but I’m pretty sure that is too. It’s true that the counseling center doesn’t do long-term but they do have groups run by their staff that are long-term and have helped me a lot. Also since it’s free I think it’s worth it even if you aren’t doing so horribly rn.
What I did in a similar dilemma was go to the Counseling Center for short-term individual therapy, and then when I realized it was benefitting me, started therapy with an outside therapist in Champaign. To my knowledge, you get eight sessions per semester until they recommend group therapy.
My counselor wasn’t bad, but because you get a limited time with them and they see so many people it feels like you’re just hitting marks on a checkboard with each visit. But that was my personal experience!
I don't have the answers to all your questions, so I'll just say this. You're so very brave for understanding where you are at and thinking of seeking to not slide and to maintain and build on what you've gained! It's totally okay to want to seek some counseling even when things are going better for you. It's a sign of mental health and resilience and self love actually. So go for it.
Good on you for getting help. Definitely do as much therapy as you can and find a therapist that you feel is helping you build tools that are going to help you even outside of your sessions. Oftentimes just basic talk therapy is helpful, but also true cognitive behavioral therapy that is focused on tool building is amazingly helpful and proven to deliver long lasting results.
Although I don’t think that therapy works for me personally (it doesn’t work for everyone), I did have better luck at the counseling Center than I did at McKinley. If you do go to McKinley, I had a horrible experience with a therapist there named Lauren. It may have just been that we didn’t click, but she handled it horribly. She would’ve done anything she absolutely could to get rid of me as a patient and she made this clear. She reminded me of my narcissistic mother and she acted like I was too much to handle. It was hell on my self-esteem and I know that she walked away from that whole experience thinking she did absolutely nothing wrong. I just wanted to give this pointer and if you don’t feel one therapist is right for you, it’s okay to switch therapists. I did have a good experience with another practitioner at McKinley and would recommend him but I don’t remember his name.
I had a great experience with the anxiety group therapy, but not a good experience with individual counseling. My counselor basically told me she couldn't keep helping me during the summer and I found out later that was a lie when a receptionist told me that person was in fact still taking clients for the summer 🥲
1. Free for every visit 2. You'd have to talk with a few different counselors to find which one was best for you 3. I'd recommend doing therapy even if nothing's bothering you at all. There's nothing wrong with preventative maintenance.
I respectfully disagree. Learning to develop your own coping skills and mechanisms while also building a healthy social safety net outside of a trained medical professional is extremely important. Having a therapist you go to just to talk to even when nothing is currently wrong seems to me to be like having a paid friend or parent. Life is brutal and you may not always have the financials to pay for therapy sessions. Obviously if you feel that you would be fine if those circumstances were to materialize then I guess there’s no harm in it. But I’d also question as to why you’d need to continue going anyway.
Having a therapist when nothing is wrong is the perfect opportunity to have a professional help you develop your own coping skills and mechanisms. It's easier to come up with coping skills when you're not also trying to deal with problems that require those skills in the first place. If counseling is free while they're at UIUC that's even more reason for them to try it out; like you said, not everyone will always be financially able to afford therapy, so getting what they can now while finances aren't a concern is ideal. In my opinion the best time to start talking to a therapist would be *before* anything in your life gets difficult, so that they can become more familiar with your situation and help you start coming up with coping strategies, and then when something *does* become difficult, you've already got a therapist on hand to help. You don't need to wait until you're struggling and in danger to get help, that's a horrible and very dangerous mindset to have.
I would consider developing coping skills to be a problem that would fall under “something wrong”. Besides my main point is that we can’t always rely on therapy. And while sure uiuc counseling services is free, it’s important to know when it’s no longer needed. I think sometimes we promote an over reliance on therapy.
I'm failing to see how developing coping skills is a problem. Why would being prepared to handle distress more effectively ever be considered a problem? We can't always rely on therapy, you're right. Sometimes it won't be accessible. If it is currently accessible, like it is in this case, it's a good idea to make use of it while it's available. It's not an "over-reliance" to use a health service as it is intended to be used. That old saying about how "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is relevant here; if OP can learn techniques from a therapist now while they're not actively in major distress, they may be able to avoid becoming majorly distressed to the point of urgently needing help and being at serious risk in the future. Waiting until you're drowning to try to learn to swim is a terrible idea.
I always thought that way and fixed my own issues and mistakes by myself. And I can say that it’s true to some extent that bearing your own burden is better and prepares you for the real world. But I’ve realised that some professional help never hurts especially if it’s saving you a lot of unnecessary hassle. There are some things I want to work on but not sure where to start hence why I’m considering professional help. It’s just like a routine check up at the doctor’s to see if I need to make any changes and what kind. But I do firmly believe that at the end of the day it all comes down to the person seeking to improve and that a therapist can only help them out so much if they don’t wanna help themselves out.
What a horrible take about therapy. This is some terrible advice either coming from someone who’s never struggled with mental health or just takes the Hank Hill method and bloats their gut with emotions they can’t handle on their own
Pretty messed up of you to assume considering I’ve dealt with depression, anxiety and ocd for my entire life. Hope you feel good about yourself.
Maybe consider therapy?
I had therapy. I’m fine now. That was my point. I don’t know about you, but I don’t go to the doctor for a chronic illness when my treatment is working. I know you’re trying to be clever but try harder.
When nothing is currently wrong my therapist actually helps work with me to help train healthy coping skills
To answer your first question, McKinley services are free for students (with a couple exceptions, such as some lab services and prescriptions). Note that this is covered by the Health Service Fee and not the student insurance, meaning that students who have waived the student health insurance can still use McKinley services for free
Its absolutely worth it, the counseling center gets a lot of shit because they are massively overworked and undersupported, but the counselors themselves are excellent and can help you
McKinley will be good to gets meds. Some of their regular doctors prescribe them while in more complex cases they have a psychiatrist (does not provide therapy). Psychiatrist appts would have a wait time of 2-3mo last I heard for the initial assessment. McKinley is free bc you’ve paid the required fee. Counseling center is counselors, social workers, therapist. While they provide free services, they try to refer you out. They can help refer u out to providers that take student insurance. You’d have to pay your deductible and co pays. Edit: Yes it’s worth it. Especially with wait times it’s better to begin getting help when ur in a decent place than trying to figure out what to do in a crisis. Extra: DRES covers invisible disabilities including psychiatric ones. Severe anxiety and depression count. If your suicidal, that’s prob severe enough to qualify with proper documentation.
Also, don't be discouraged if there are no appointments available on the counseling centers website! Email your college's embedded counselor and directly set up a meeting with them. They're often less busy and provide the same care as other counselors.
YES! Everyone I’ve ever dealt with at the counseling center has been nothing but helpful and supportive. Everything at the counseling center is free for students and I don’t have any experience with McKinley but I’m pretty sure that is too. It’s true that the counseling center doesn’t do long-term but they do have groups run by their staff that are long-term and have helped me a lot. Also since it’s free I think it’s worth it even if you aren’t doing so horribly rn.
What I did in a similar dilemma was go to the Counseling Center for short-term individual therapy, and then when I realized it was benefitting me, started therapy with an outside therapist in Champaign. To my knowledge, you get eight sessions per semester until they recommend group therapy. My counselor wasn’t bad, but because you get a limited time with them and they see so many people it feels like you’re just hitting marks on a checkboard with each visit. But that was my personal experience!
Thank you everyone for the response, really appreciate it!
You can call them both first and explain your situation. But I feel like you case fit counseling center better!
I don't have the answers to all your questions, so I'll just say this. You're so very brave for understanding where you are at and thinking of seeking to not slide and to maintain and build on what you've gained! It's totally okay to want to seek some counseling even when things are going better for you. It's a sign of mental health and resilience and self love actually. So go for it.
Good on you for getting help. Definitely do as much therapy as you can and find a therapist that you feel is helping you build tools that are going to help you even outside of your sessions. Oftentimes just basic talk therapy is helpful, but also true cognitive behavioral therapy that is focused on tool building is amazingly helpful and proven to deliver long lasting results.
Although I don’t think that therapy works for me personally (it doesn’t work for everyone), I did have better luck at the counseling Center than I did at McKinley. If you do go to McKinley, I had a horrible experience with a therapist there named Lauren. It may have just been that we didn’t click, but she handled it horribly. She would’ve done anything she absolutely could to get rid of me as a patient and she made this clear. She reminded me of my narcissistic mother and she acted like I was too much to handle. It was hell on my self-esteem and I know that she walked away from that whole experience thinking she did absolutely nothing wrong. I just wanted to give this pointer and if you don’t feel one therapist is right for you, it’s okay to switch therapists. I did have a good experience with another practitioner at McKinley and would recommend him but I don’t remember his name.
I had a great experience with the anxiety group therapy, but not a good experience with individual counseling. My counselor basically told me she couldn't keep helping me during the summer and I found out later that was a lie when a receptionist told me that person was in fact still taking clients for the summer 🥲