MANKATO — In a time when the mental health needs of students are in the spotlight, Central High School is now able to offer on-site therapy services to help reduce barriers to accessing care, said the school’s counselor Janell Sipe.
“Transportation is a big one for our students. Many of them cannot drive or have access to their own automobile,” Sipe said.
“As well as parents can’t leave their employment to come and take them during the day for therapy, so this is so exciting for us here, and we’ve been wanting this to happen for quite a while, so we’re grateful that we have it here to help our students.”
Central High School — which offers an alternative option for high school students for whom a traditional large setting doesn’t work — is the latest district school to offer the services by way of a state grant, Principal Marti Sievek said, adding that most Mankato district schools already have the option.
While the services are new to his school, Sievek said they’re important for every student.
“What we have seen is that mental health needs have presented everywhere,” he said.
The district partners with Counseling Services of Southern Minnesota to offer students up to 12 free sessions.
Both Sipe and Sievek said the need is there.
“Anxiety has, it’s always been there, but it has increased in our kiddos to the point where they’re at times unable to even come to school, so let alone trying to send them out for an appointment. This is just a much better process because they don’t have to leave. They’re here,” Sipe said.
Depression seems to be on the rise, she said. “School attendance has been quite a challenge since COVID. These kids are used to being at home. I think some of them have sprung addictions to maybe social media as well as video games, and the motivation has changed as well.”
Sievek added that the pandemic has posed mental health challenges.
“When life is interrupted in such a pivotal time in the adolescent brain, the norm is re-normed. When we returned to what the adults would’ve perceived as normal, it wasn’t normal for kids anymore,” he said.
“In the educational field, it has been shocking the amount of work it’s taken to re-normalize the things that (Sipe) is talking about.”
Sipe said students can expect the same services they would receive from a licensed therapist outside of the building.
The therapist visits the school one day a week and can see six to eight students on any given day.
Sipe said the school has more freedom with who they can serve because the free sessions help families that might not have insurance.
She also said the service opens doors for kids who don’t have parental support for therapy, adding that 16-year-olds are eligible to express interest in the program on their own.
“Yes, the student can seek those services. We really want to try to include the parents or the guardians,” she said.
If families without insurance anticipate needing more than 12 sessions, Sievek said the school will work with them to connect them to resources.