Prabhnoor Bagri went to UBC’s Counselling Services last year for support when classes were online.
“I think I was struggling at school and handling everything being at home so I talked to [a counsellor] about it,” the second-year Sauder student said.
But Bagri said that she felt unheard during her appointment.
“I wasn’t getting enough questions asked about myself so I kind of had to just listen to the counsellor the entire time — which I didn't really like because I wanted to actually talk about what I was going through.”
She added that the advice she received — “Sleep early, drink water, go on a walk” — were about things she was already trying to do, and they didn’t seem to address the causes of her problems.
Through UBC Health Student Services, individuals can book “goal-oriented” counselling appointments which focus on “strengths and identifying helpful perspectives and/or strategies,” according to the services’ website.
Besides the goal-oriented approach, students have complained about long wait times and the feeling like issues were not being properly addressed.
Bagri said this goal-oriented approach didn’t work for her.
“I hated it so much. I never went back to it,” she said, adding that she now uses counselling services outside of UBC.
Jenni Clark, director of Counselling Services at UBC, told The Ubyssey that evidence suggests a single session of goal-oriented therapy is beneficial.
“There is pretty good evidence that suggests the ultimate outcome of therapy can be predicted pretty accurately within the first 3–4 weeks of starting therapy,” Clark said. “If there [is not] any sort of progress towards goals in those first few weeks, then the actual likelihood of having a successful outcome with the therapist at this time is much less likely.”
Clark also said that students can also seek mental health support from wellness advising — which can connect students to other relevant supports besides counselling.
While Bagri found the goal-oriented strategy ineffective, others found it more helpful.
“I found [goal-oriented therapy] helpful, just because it is nice to be able to point towards one thing that I need to improve on and work on that because otherwise, it is really overwhelming to have multiple things that you are talking about,” said second-year science student Navindi De Silva.
De Silva said her counsellor “made it very clear that it’s up to [her]” what topics were discussed and what the two focussed on during their sessions.
However, De Silva said she had to wait three weeks to be matched with a counsellor — which might factor into her decision of whether to attend another UBC session.
Dr. John Ogrodniczuk, professor and director of UBC’s psychotherapy program, stressed that there is "not [a] one-size-fits-all" approach to therapy in an interview with The Ubyssey — something that Clark echoed in a follow-up statement sent by email.
“Different approaches to therapy are going to appeal differently to each seeking help, and I think offering a [variety] of treatments … to respond to the individual needs of each person who is seeking help is fundamentally necessary,” Orgodniczuk said.
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