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 Beginning this fall semester, Heartland will be the
first community college in Illinois to offer confidential and secure
video counseling via Student Counseling Services.
Three years ago, Heartland implemented “distance counseling”
services by phone and email to students with difficulty making it
into the campus office. This summer the College is adding a system
that uses video counseling as another tool to support students.
Heartland is one of the few community colleges in Illinois that has
a standalone counseling center for students to talk about college
and life experiences. In confidential sessions, students can seek
help with a variety of issues, ranging from stress and anxiety to
depression and trauma.
With campus locations in Pontiac and Lincoln, as well as the
Bloomington-Normal flagship, access to services for all students can
be a challenge. The practice of “telemental” health services has
been helping meet those needs.
Faye Freeman-Smith is Heartland’s Director of Counseling Services.
Freeman-Smith has been credentialed as a distance counselor since
2009. As a board member for the Higher Education Mental Health
Alliance (HEMHA), Freeman-Smith has helped develop a set of
guidelines published this year for distance counseling at colleges
and universities.
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“Many students are more comfortable talking with technology, and
may be more open and unintimidated to approach counseling,” Freeman-Smith said.
“Removing any barriers we can further the goal of supporting students and their
success.”
Distance counseling is offered to students at the Lincoln and Pontiac campus
locations, but also to students with disabilities that make it difficult reach
the offices at Heartland’s main campus in Normal.
In the age of Skype and FaceTime, incorporating video counseling might seem to
be as easy as finding an iPhone, but the system is complicated by a major
factor: privacy.
“Video conferencing system requires advanced encryption to protect our student’s
privacy,” said Freeman-Smith. “This is a secure platform with encryption
technology that exceeds the standards that are required for email exchanges.”
Student Counseling is also tapping into a growing affinity for mobile devices to
help students with stress-reducing practices via mindfulness and mediation phone
apps.
Freeman-Smith said she expects the video conferencing software to be available
for use by Counseling Services by mid-July.
[Steve Fast
Associate Director of Public Information
Heartland Community College]
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