For Lots Of Students Experiencing Mental Health Challenges – The Field Educator: A Scholarly Journal From The Simmons College School Of Public Work

Volume Spring 2012.

In supporting and advocating for students who might be experiencing mental illness, public work field faculty must be mindful of our role as educators but not community workers.

At very similar time, we must protect clients and ensure that interns’ work meets lofty professional standards. We hope that students access the supports and outsourcing needed for success in their field practicum, though we must respect their selfdetermination in disclosing their mental illness or in accessing university counseling or disability support maintenance. Our primary role as educators is to graduate competent, ethical practitioners. Our professional training in assessing and intervening in mental health crises may encourage us to identify signs of mental illness in students that non community work faculty members possibly miss. Then, at times, our prior mental health practice experience usually can be a double edged sword.

Mental symptoms illness and side effects of mental health treatments as well present challenges for students in practicum.

For a great deal of students experiencing mental health challenges, field stressors practicum may invoke challenging behaviors, such as unexplained tardiness or absence, difficulty with insight into how their own behavior is affecting client or practicum setting, or unwillingness or inability to engage in ‘selfreflection’ with their field supervisor. Often, we have seen how treatment for mental illness may impact or interfere with a student’s common work field education. Some students have shared with us that these side effects interfere with their ability to manage course competing demands work and practicum. When students lack insight or acceptance of these mental health challenges associated and effects on their common work practice, they can be too impaired to competently or ethically engage in practicum. Medications for mental illness have negative side effects that limit memory, attention, and energy level.

Anecdotally, we have looked with success for that other field faculty have had struggles identical to ours in navigating the precarious balance between sensitive treatment of students’ mental health challenges and our upholding role as gatekeepers to profession.

We hope that it will serve as an invitation for further dialogue about this essential topic, we have entirely started conversation with this article. We hope that lines of research will develop to examine mental prevalence health challenges among common work students, to describe its effects on education and field performance, and to determine best practices to guide future program policies.

Common work field educators experience competing responsibilities, when faced with a student presenting with a mental health challenge.

When students experience mental health challenges and were probably unable or unwilling to acknowledge those challenges, difficulties may arise. Furthermore, leedy and Smith. In addition, horton, Diaz and Green.

In working with common work students with mental health challenges, we have identified several difficulties that they face in the practicum setting. Second, all faculty, including field instructors, should develop relationships with university disability support solutions in order to educate ourselves about mental health disabilities and to look for meaningful methods to accommodate students without violating our obligation to clients served by practicum settings. Difficulty accessing treatment; and the treatment effect itself, These difficulties involve effect of mental the effect health challenges on student’s relationships. That students and field educators have clear guidelines for what has been expected of students, Third, schools of public work should develop surely defined policies that detail expectations of professional behavior. With that said, through discussions with colleagues, disability support maintenance, and some trial and error, we were always able to consider some guidelines for supporting students with mental health challenges to be successful in field practicum. Field educators may reduce mental stigma illness in practicum settings by educating colleagues about mental health myths, resources accessible to students in university and the professional performance expectations of our students., beyond doubt, it has usually been significant to proactively talk with students late and rather frequently about university disability support and counseling solutions. An open conversation about mental health challenges may help to reduce stigma and motivate students to access appropriate solutions.

We have noticed how mental health challenges usually can affect students’ relationships with peers, faculty, clients and supervisors.

In fact, findings from 2010 Cooperative Institutional Research Program Freshman Survey looked with success for that college freshman reported the lowest self rating on emotional health since the survey began in 1985. Additional students or colleagues who recognize that he does not participate or engage in a group setting may happen to be reluctant to partner with that student for group projects. That’s where it starts getting really entertaining, right? The incidence and severity of mental health issues have substantially increased among college students. Besides, college students are at specifically lofty risk for developing mental health challenges, as onset average age of most mental illnesses has been between 17 and 25. Besides, if a student who experiences public anxiety has difficulty participating in short or vast group activities or presenting in front of colleagues in class or field, he may have difficulty forming meaningful peer relationships.

Despite deleterious effect on relationships, students may choose not to discuss, seek treatment, or request academic accommodations for their mental health challenges.

Stigmatization of mental illness is well documented in contributing to students’ disinclination to disclose and seek solutions. In any case, community work students fear -apparently in some cases justifiably so -that they won’t be accepted into public work program or into a practicum if they disclose mental health challenges. We have seen firsthand how powerful stigma has been in preventing students from accessing university disability support and mental health outsourcing.