Angela Marsh-Peek is the director of advising and counseling at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. She said KVCC was prepared to help students with election anxiety and got the word out to let students know help was available.
But on Thursday, Marsh-Peek said they hadn’t seen an uptick in student requests for services.
KVCC wasn’t alone. The counseling office at Western Michigan University also said on Thursday that it had been quiet there too.
Marsh-Peek has a theory.
“I think everybody's also very sensitive to it. That we, that there likely some individuals that are not very happy and don't feel potentially supported by the administration elected. So, I think people are being very sensitive to it,” she said, while acknowledging it could all change with the inauguration on January 20.
The Stress in America survey from the American Psychological Association found that seven out of 10 adults specifically named the election, and the potential for post-election violence, as significant sources of stress in their lives.
And across the country calls to mental health agencies have gone up since Election Day. In Kalamazoo, Gryphon Place said calls last week were up by more than 17% from the week before. They attribute it to the election outcome.
Unlike KVCC and WMU, requests for services are up at Kalamazoo College. That may be because a week before Election Day, the college launched an election specific counseling program that Erica Pearson, the counseling center’s director, said filled up quickly.
Pearson said some students aren’t interested in weekly therapy. She said they think “'I don't want to come in and tell all of my back story and get into the weeds of everything.'"
She wanted to offer an alternative. A one-on-one “election support session” that doesn’t require students to make a long-term commitment to therapy.
“They’re able to meet with a counselor to process these very real, in the moment, reaction,” Pearson said.
In a single, focused, one-on-one therapy session, Pearson said students talk about the anxiety they feel surrounding the election. And she said, they try to find tangible ways to navigate friends and family who don’t share their views.
“Very soon our term ends and we go into winter break. And these students, who may be able to cope as individuals, are going home to families who maybe have differing values or political perspectives."
Pearson added that “sometimes it goes beyond just, ‘am I happy or upset about who was elected?’ And more of ‘okay, what does this mean for my day-to-day life? What does this mean for my relationships? What does this mean for my future?’”
Pearson said students can sign up for more sessions if they want to.
She also said election support sessions are ongoing until the school breaks for Thanksgiving. They will start up again the week before the inauguration, after students return from winter break in January.
Pearson said the election support sessions will continue to be offered through the end of January.
