By: Lyda Dok and Cameron Flores
After two years of virtual learning, Long Beach State’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is offering hybrid counseling resources for students struggling with issues such as family relationships, stress, and anxiety.
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
CAPS is one of the mental health services offered at CSULB and helps students “meet personal challenges associated with identifying and accomplishing academic, career, and life goals,” according to their website.
Damian Zavala, assistant vice president of health and wellness said the CAPS staff have been “working from home and continue to offer virtual services as well as in-person services to make CAPS more accessible for students.”
Student attendance on campus has decreased due to classes that prioritize remote learning. Michael Barraza, interim director of CAPS said the “average number of students” using counseling services was 1,466 during the 2020 to 2021 school year in comparison to 1,800 students in previous years.
At the beginning of the 2021 school year, 1,049 students were utilizing CAPS services. The number has now increased to 1,330 students since the return to campus, according to Barraza.
However, the number of students using CAPS services has increased this spring semester due to now offering both virtual and in-person services. CAPS officials hope for students to continue accessing counseling resources.
“There’s a lot of stress and difficulties with being a student,” Zavala said. “We hope CAPS is a support system to students [when] they need services such as long-term therapy.”
Beach Buddy
Beach Buddy is one of the collaborative resources offered through CAPS that offers one-on-one peer mentoring, group spaces, and workshops led by students, according to their website.
Luis Estrada, a CSULB Beach Buddy mentor said the program is a “supportive environment that creates a safe space for students.”
“Our goal is to spread awareness on mental health and to destigmatize mental health throughout the CSULB community,” Estrada said.
The Beach Buddy peer mentors listen to and support students to connect them with resources such as counselors from the CAPS department.
“One message that we want to get [out] to students is to remind them they’re not alone,” Estrada said. “We are here to support in any way that we can.”
To learn more about CSULB mental health services, visit their website.