Spring Break
Clinic helps battle mental disorders
Erin McCarthy
Issue date: 2/6/09 Section: News
As Western Illinois University students gear up for six more weeks of winter, some may begin to feel the onset of seasonal affective disorder.
Fortunately, Western provides counseling services on campus to help students cope with various mental disorders, ranging from mild cases of SAD to more serious problems such as clinical depression and bipolar disorder.
The 2008-2009 academic year marks the 40th anniversary of the Western Illinois University Psychology Clinic, located in Waggoner Hall and directed by Dr. Tracy Knight. The clinic acts as a community service agency that provides no-fee outpatient psychotherapy and counseling services to adults, children, families and couples, while simultaneously serving as a training facility for Western's Clinical/Community Mental Health graduate program.
"The Psychology Clinic provides services to anyone in the region, and a large majority of our clients are non-students who live in the surrounding area. However, approximately 20 percent of the individuals receiving services from the clinic are WIU students," Knight said. "Our staff includes four doctoral-level clinical psychologists as well as 10 advanced graduate students."
According to Knight, five of the graduate students see clients under faculty supervision, and the other five sit in on cases managed by the faculty.
"Most of the students we see at the clinic come because of difficulties with depression, anxiety, or relationships," Knight said. "The stigma attached to receiving psychological services has decreased a lot during the past few decades."
Having been in private and group practices for 24 years prior to coming to Western, Knight has noted that mental disorders have been thought to be epidemic simply because the number of human problems society has deemed "mental disorders" has multiplied exponentially.
"In fact, the American Psychiatric Association, which publishes the diagnostic manual used in psychology and psychiatry, is likely to include 'Internet Addiction' as a diagnosis when they release the next edition," Knight said. "That's a good example of something that - while it certainly can be a problem - is not a disease. I think we end up being counterproductive when we begin thinking of human problems as always indicating a disease."
Fortunately, Western provides counseling services on campus to help students cope with various mental disorders, ranging from mild cases of SAD to more serious problems such as clinical depression and bipolar disorder.
The 2008-2009 academic year marks the 40th anniversary of the Western Illinois University Psychology Clinic, located in Waggoner Hall and directed by Dr. Tracy Knight. The clinic acts as a community service agency that provides no-fee outpatient psychotherapy and counseling services to adults, children, families and couples, while simultaneously serving as a training facility for Western's Clinical/Community Mental Health graduate program.
"The Psychology Clinic provides services to anyone in the region, and a large majority of our clients are non-students who live in the surrounding area. However, approximately 20 percent of the individuals receiving services from the clinic are WIU students," Knight said. "Our staff includes four doctoral-level clinical psychologists as well as 10 advanced graduate students."
According to Knight, five of the graduate students see clients under faculty supervision, and the other five sit in on cases managed by the faculty.
"Most of the students we see at the clinic come because of difficulties with depression, anxiety, or relationships," Knight said. "The stigma attached to receiving psychological services has decreased a lot during the past few decades."
Having been in private and group practices for 24 years prior to coming to Western, Knight has noted that mental disorders have been thought to be epidemic simply because the number of human problems society has deemed "mental disorders" has multiplied exponentially.
"In fact, the American Psychiatric Association, which publishes the diagnostic manual used in psychology and psychiatry, is likely to include 'Internet Addiction' as a diagnosis when they release the next edition," Knight said. "That's a good example of something that - while it certainly can be a problem - is not a disease. I think we end up being counterproductive when we begin thinking of human problems as always indicating a disease."
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