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Lehigh University Counseling and Psychological Services
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The Lehigh University Counseling and Psychological Services (UCPS) office is located on the fourth floor of Johnson Hall, on the Asa Packer Campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. The UCPS primarily serves Lehigh's increasingly diverse, co-educational undergraduate and graduate student body as well as provides consultation for Lehigh faculty, staff, and parents of students.
History
During the early 1950's, if a Lehigh student needed to discuss a personal issue (e.g., feeling stressed, socially isolated), he would go to a dean, an advisor, a professor, or a friend - - and occasionally to the Placement Office. A counseling center did not exist. The Placement Office staff served some of the personal needs of students, with these primarily defined as: aiding students with job placement after graduation; administering numerous vocational, occupational, and graduate/professional school entrance exams; and providing feedback on testing for effective career decision-making, in addition to providing testing and consulting services to the Lehigh Valley community, including the local Veterans Affairs. Between the years of 1950-1951, the center's staff occasionally provided services for students to improve study habits and reading difficulties.
In the mid 1950s, the primary function of the counseling component of the Placement Office was for testing purposes. Students typically attended one session for vocational testing, and a follow-up session for testing feedback, with testing administered individually or in large groups. In fact, between the years of 1953-1954, a new testing room was built promoted as representing "the frontier of testing room design."
By the early 1960s, Everett Teal, the director of the Placement Office, noticed that discussion of students' personal concerns occupied nearly half of his staff member's time. Often, students reported deficiencies in the social and intellectual components of the campus. There were also complaints that the workload dampened student’s enthusiasm level for other college experiences. Feeling his staff was too small and untrained to provide personal counseling, Teal began hiring "psychological counselors" and created the "Counseling and Testing Service (C&T)" division of the Placement Office during the 1962-1963 academic year. Shortly thereafter, Teal conducted a self-study to compare Lehigh University's provision of mental health services to its students with the counseling services of other universities in the country. It was determined that the ratio of counselors to students in the C&T division was insufficient.
In the early years, the UCS also sent out a booklet to freshman parents called Life at Lehigh: A Conversation with Parents written by Dr. Edmiston. It garnered praise and written testimonials mailed in from parents and other college counseling center directors who occasionally requested permission to use parts of the booklet for their own schools. The booklet addressed the changes parents were likely to observe in their children while attending college and addressed a range of topics such as homesickness, alcohol and drug use, communication, roommate issues, sexuality, etc.
Individual psychotherapy involves a focused one-on-one interaction between student and counselor. Following an initial consultation about the student's needs, individual therapy often involves an exploration of a student's personal concerns. Counselors utilize empirically-supported interventions that are personalized to each student's unique needs. An individual therapy session typically lasts 50 minutes and is offered on a time-limited basis to full-time students, typically not lasting more than 8-10 sessions.
The UCPS also offers Lehigh students Alcohol, Other Drug and Addiction (AODA) services, outreach programs, and peak performance training and sport psychology services. AODA services assist students struggling with addictive substances (e.g., alcohol, cocaine) or behaviors (e.g., gambling, gaming) and provides AOD evaluations - referral and treatment for students sanctioned for alcohol or other drug offenses. Additionally, UCPS staff interacts with Lehigh students through outreach programs, providing information and promoting discussion on various topics (e.g., stress, romantic relationships). Some staff members provide peak performance training and sport psychology services to Lehigh athletic teams and individual student-athletes.
Other UCPS services include assistance in crisis management, helping students who are in significant psychological distress. The UCPS staff is also very active in consultation with parents, faculty, staff, gryphons (resident assistants), students, and administration. Psychological testing (e.g., personality, career, and intelligence assessment) is also used to supplement individual and group therapy. Finally, UCPS staff engage in extensive research and teaching of undergraduate courses in the Psychology Department and graduate courses in the Counseling Psychology program at Lehigh University.
Current Staff
Ian Birky, Ph.D.
Director
Laurie Gray Evans, Ph.D.
Staff Psychologist
Deborah Gardner, Ph.D.
Staff Psychologist
Eric Klein, Ph.D.
Staff Psychologist
Aaron Sterba, M.A., ABD
Staff Counselor
Anju Kaduvettoor, M.Ed.
Graduate Assistant
Sepideh "Sam" Sohelian, M.Ed.
Graduate Assistant
Ryan Weatherford, M.Ed.
Graduate Assistant
Pattie Kennedy
Administrative Assistant
Robyn Paul
Administrative Assistant
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