{"615121":{"#nid":"615121","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Partnership Creates Joint Center for Mental Health Assessment and Referral","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EConstruction will begin during the winter break on a new referral-and-assessment center intended to significantly streamline the process for students who wish to access campus counseling and psychiatric services. The facility, which is scheduled for completion in early to mid-March, is located on the first floor of the Smithgall Student Services Building, more commonly known as the Flag Building.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe need for a single pathway for students to access campus mental health resources was identified by Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Mental Health Task Force, and reiterated as part of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.president.gatech.edu\/path-forward-together\u0022\u003E\u0026ldquo;A Path Forward \u0026mdash; Together\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/a\u003E initiative.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We expect this new center to provide a significant improvement in helping our faculty and staff assist with the mental health needs of our students,\u0026rdquo; said Lynn Durham, associate vice president and executive liaison to the Path Forward \u0026mdash; Together initiative. \u0026ldquo;Creating a single point of entry is going to reduce wait times and improve how we provide care to our student population.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has two primary mental health care providers \u0026mdash; the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/counseling.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ECounseling Center\u003C\/a\u003E, operated under Tech\u0026rsquo;s Division of Student Life, and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/health.gatech.edu\/services\/psych\u0022\u003EPsychiatry Clinic\u003C\/a\u003E, a service of Stamps Health Services. Those two units already work together, but the new referral-and-assessment center will provide a single point of entry where students can come in, discuss their needs with a counselor, and formulate a treatment plan as part of their initial visit.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe initial design and concept were developed as part of the planning process for the new Student Center. With completion of that facility still a few years off, the leadership in Student Life and Campus Services (John Stein, vice president for \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/studentlife.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EStudent Life\u003C\/a\u003E and dean of students, and JulieAnne Williamson, interim vice president for \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/campusservices.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ECampus Services\u003C\/a\u003E) began brainstorming about how to speed up the timetable. The result is the renovation and expansion of the joint center, which is scheduled to open in March 2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;This collaborative effort is a true partnership that will bridge two major providers of mental health support in one location,\u0026rdquo; said Stein. \u0026ldquo;Students will be able to come in, speak with a mental health professional, and leave the meeting with a plan of next steps to support their well-being.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECurrent plans are to add a director and two full-time counselors who will staff the new center. Mental health professionals from Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Counseling Center and Psychiatric Clinic will serve the new center on a rotating basis. This new structure is expected to better utilize the expertise of the counseling and psychiatric staff, and allow them to serve more students.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Both of our organizations are excited to come together in a unified way to address affordability, accessibility, availability, and timeliness of mental health services on campus,\u0026rdquo; Williamson said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAt present, the center has no formal name, but Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Student Government Association and campus student organizations, such as the Mental Health Student Coalition, have been invited to offer suggestions for what the facility might be called.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We expect this new center to provide a significant improvement in helping our faculty and staff assist with the mental health needs of our students,\u0026rdquo; said Lynn Durham, associate vice president and executive liaison to the Path Forward \u0026mdash; Together initiative. \u0026ldquo;Creating a single point of entry is going to reduce wait times and improve how we provide care to our student population.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Construction will begin during the winter break and is intended to significantly streamline the process for students who wish to access campus counseling and psychiatric services."}],"uid":"27299","created_gmt":"2018-12-07 14:35:26","changed_gmt":"2018-12-07 14:35:26","author":"Michael Hagearty","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2018-12-07T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:sara.warner@studentlife.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESara Warner\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDivision of Student Life\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}