Five Benefits of Therapy for College and Graduate Students
Written By: Katie Jacobi, LPC
With over twenty colleges in the Washington, D.C. area, our therapists are well-versed in working through many of the challenges that are unique to college and graduate students. As a therapist for young adults, there are certain topics that seem to come up time and again within this population. One guarantee seems certain: your collegiate or graduate school years will not always be smooth sailing. This time period is often met with the absence from home and a community you have become accustomed to; financial stressors; working through identity and relationships; all while simultaneously making decisions about your career and future.
There can be times in this vacuum of unending stress that it feels difficult, if not impossible to see a light at the end of the tunnel. This is where therapy can help. As a therapist, I see part of my role as being a holder of hope for my clients, even when they themselves cannot access that place. Having a neutral place where you can work through some of life’s most tumultuous disruptions and challenges in an empathic, nonjudgmental space is one of the many healing elements of the therapeutic relationship. Beyond that, I have outlined five of the common themes and benefits of therapy during these stressful years in a young adult’s life can bring!
Help With Managing Stress and Anxiety
I often hear even the clients who identify as being “great students” struggle with the unique stressors and anxiety that being a college or graduate student can bring. Beyond coursework that is often at a calibur, and level of difficulty beyond anything they have experienced thus far, there are oftentimes not even close to the level of support and guidance that we tend to get in our grade school years. If you’re on your own for the first time, having self-reliance and self-accountability to get your work done, manage time, and comprehend the information at hand can be incredibly overwhelming.
Therapy provides a space to not just work through potential stressors and anxiety-inducing situations. But, it also allows you to understand some of your own maladaptive patterns in managing stress and anxiety. Whether you are more solutions-focused or looking to explore some of the deeper roots of your anxiety, your therapist tries to drop in to meet you where you are in your own process of managing these overwhelming feelings. They can help you identify triggering situations for stress, and cope effectively with stress and anxiety.
Clarifying and Establishing Values
Is there value in identifying your values? Let’s just say, it’s valuable. For example, you identify the value of meaningful relationships yet you reflect on how you spend your time and 90% of it is spent alone in the library, there is going to be some noticeable internal misalignment. These value misalignments can add up, quickly! Working with your therapist to identify and clarify your values can be an incredibly useful practice in pointing out those blind spots where the parts of your life that give you the most meaning and value are no longer in alignment with how you spend your time.
What makes this especially useful for college and graduate students is you may be accountable for the way you spend your days for perhaps the first time in your life. You may no longer be subject to a highly organized school schedule, and obligations. This is both empowering, and overwhelming! Your therapist may gently help point out that you describe really valuing learning and class, but you’ve missed more than your allotted absences for the semester. Looking at what your values are, and seeing how you can live in your values, is another profound benefit of therapy during this critical period.
Discussing Academic Pressures
So “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Perhaps one of the most dreaded ten-word questions in the English language. And also, a question that absolutely does not need to have a finite or concrete answer. The pressure to know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life at 18 can be quite limiting, and doesn’t acknowledge how much change and growth can happen within the years you are in college or graduate school. The pressures that stack up academically, with major declarations, grades, imposter syndrome, and a number of different degree-related concerns are yet another benefit of therapy during this time. Your therapist can help you work through feeling stuck, look at the motivation behind certain decisions made around your major or graduate program, and explore options for your professional future!
Exploring Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Relationships
On top of academic rigor, performance, and being on your own for perhaps the first time, things really get interesting when you add the relational challenges inextricably linked with this period. Whether romantic relationships, friendships, sexual partners, parents, and your relationship with yourself, this is a time when one if not all of these relationships endure a battery of difficulties. Working through relational struggles is one of the most unique benefits of therapy during this time. Having a space where you can clarify feelings, explore boundaries, and set realistic expectations are added values of therapy as a college or graduate student.
Building Emotional Resilience & Your Mental Health Toolkit
Emotional resilience can best be described as a way to manage and adapt to stressful situations, and develop the ability to cope with life’s ups and downs, not erase them! The stressors present during your collegiate or graduate school years are… *spoiler alert*... unavoidable. This is and will be a stressful time. Learning how to build emotional resilience can come from identifying difficult situations you have managed and worked through in the past, as well as working with your therapist to identify strengths that can allow you to effectively cope during a difficult time. Unfortunately, unless you’re in a psychology or sociology-related program, building emotional resilience and a toolkit to manage big feelings is rarely taught in school. Though this is a period of life where you may be inundated with information, psychoeducation and building tools to help cope with the stressors of this time is another key bonus of therapy during these challenging years.
In closing, therapy during this transitional stage is one of many ways to manage the difficulties of your college or graduate school years. This is an incredibly underserved population in the mental health realm, who are managing their own unique set of difficulties, and worse yet, for the most part, these students identify as feeling incredibly alone in their pain and strife. Just know, we see you, and we’re here to help. Seeing clients go from survival mode to survival mode is one of the most rewarding aspects of working with this population. If you’re not sure how therapy can help you as a student, I hope to have shed a little bit of light on a few of the many ways you can work through the unique challenges wrought with this time in your life!
Begin Working With A Life Transition Therapist in Washington, DC
Our team of caring therapists is happy to offer support in navigating the stress that college can cause at times. We can help you add to your mental health toolkit and achieve the personal growth you are looking for. You can start your therapy journey with our Washington, DC-based practice by following these simple steps:
Schedule a consultation with us using our contact form.
Meet with one of our skilled therapists.
Start making the most of the holiday season!
Other Services Offered At The Sterling Group
Our team understands there are a variety of mental health services that may affect your life. This is why our counseling practice believes in healing for the whole self in addition to life transition counseling. Our skilled therapists offer a range of services related to your healing including self-esteem therapy, trauma therapy, and self-discovery. We help folks struggling with anxiety, depression, life transitions, and executive function and ADHD struggles. Additionally, we can provide boundary-setting therapy, LGBTQ+ therapy, couples therapy as well as individual counseling for relationship issues. We hope that you’ll reach out to us to get started with counseling and we can’t wait to hear from you.
