At NC State, we take care of our Wolfpack. We’re committed to creating a caring culture that supports each student’s well-being. Through embedded counseling, we’re making mental health services more accessible and attuned to the unique needs of each of the university’s colleges.
The concept isn’t new. Years ago, NC State placed embedded counselors in areas like Athletics and the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) in response to the tight schedules and distance from Central Campus that made it difficult for student-athletes and veterinary medicine students to access the Counseling Center. Campus Health also has an embedded counselor who helps providers support students presenting symptoms of mental health conditions.
Embedding clinicians across campus was one of the recommendations made by the Student Mental Health Task Force in February. But even before the task force was formed, plans were in motion to expand embedded counseling to each of the colleges. Monica Osburn, executive director of the Counseling Center, had already begun looking into securing an embedded counselor for the College of Engineering, due to its location on campus and an anticipated rise in enrollment. Additionally, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) ran a successful embedded counseling pilot program two years ago. In January, CALS partnered with the College of Sciences to create a joint embedded counselor position serving both colleges’ students.
At the College of Engineering, embedded counselor Hannah Lavasque brings her passion for working with neurodiverse populations — particularly individuals with ADHD, OCD, autism spectrum disorder and sensory sensitivities — into her work. In graduate school, she took on neurodiversity-focused practicums and internships, including a position at the J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center. The facility is one of North Carolina’s three state-run centers for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Since joining the College of Engineering in December 2022, she and Miranda Liu, the other embedded counselor at the college, have completed a neurodiversity-affirming care training.
Hannah Lavasque, an embedded counselor at the College of Engineering.
“The embedded counselor job description was very neurodiversity forward, and I was excited to see this. Having the position be so neurodiversity-focused benefits the College of Engineering because, as an engineer, you almost need to think about the world in a different way,” said Lavasque. “And so people whose brains work a little bit differently than the way society expects them to, tend to gravitate toward fields like this. I was really excited that the college was aware they needed that type of support.”
A board certified art therapist, Lavasque finds that incorporating art into her sessions can be useful in helping clients feel more comfortable and manage their emotions.
“I will never force a student to do a specific style of therapy with me. But if a student is open to art therapy, that’s an option,” she said. “Sometimes we’ll do watercolor splatter paints when some energy needs to be released, or origami when a little bit more controlled support is needed. And then for some people, it’s just a soothing thing to create while we talk. So we’ll use clay, markers, colored pencils or whatever is the right thing for the person at that moment.”
Lavasque’s family ties to the College of Engineering add to her excitement toward supporting engineering students in their academic journey.
“There are four College of Engineering graduates in my family, and seeing what they gained from their NC State education and how happy they are in their careers was a big draw for me,” said Lavasque. “And on top of that, it was cool to see how they were able to use their education — they work in environmental engineering — to benefit the farm I grew up on in Mocksville, North Carolina.”
Fostering Caring Cultures at the Colleges
Through drop-in hours, consistent one-on-one sessions and group therapy, embedded counselors support students directly. But they don’t stop there. They collaborate with faculty and staff to foster an academic environment where students can thrive.
While each college has its own unique needs and challenges, university students as a whole struggle with issues like anxiety, depression, homesickness and building community. To combat this at the classroom-level, the embedded counselors educate their colleges’ faculty on recognizing signs and symptoms of distress in students. They accomplish this by giving presentations at faculty meetings or during classes.
The embedded counselors are also intentional about participating in college events and programming to increase their visibility and maximize their impact on their communities. At a self-care event hosted by the College of Engineering’s diversity, equity and inclusion unit, Lavasque provided a table where students could create a collage about their intentions for the semester. At a recent Ag and Sciences Career Expo, Strawn was available for guided meditation and mindfulness to help students decompress throughout the event.
“We all experience mental health needs. It’s a part of everybody all the time. So the more we can make counseling something that’s here and present all around us, the less scary it becomes,” said Lavasque.
‘This Is About Providing a Variety of Options’
Embedded counseling is only one of the many resources students can take advantage of through the Counseling Center. The program expands the center’s reach beyond the walls of the Counseling Center, advancing its mission to provide each student with timely and quality care that best fits their needs.
“The embedded counselors take great care to understand their community’s environment because every college’s tempo is a little different and what may be true in one might not be in another. But we also want to make sure we tend to the inverse of that,” said Osburn. “Some students don’t want to see an embedded counselor because they’re too close. They don’t want somebody who is right there in the same building they have to be in every day. That’s why we still have the Counseling Center on Central Campus. This is about providing a variety of options that are going to meet the needs of our students.”
The Counseling Center’s services include group counseling, workshops to help build coping skills for anxiety and depression, and off-campus referrals, which are made in the event a student prefers to see an external counselor or requires long-term care or a particular area of specialization. Group counseling topics range from body positivity and neutrality to coping with homesickness. Lavasque runs an expressive art group at the Campus Health building on Wednesdays that is open to all.
Seeking help can be daunting, but the Counseling Center is here to make it as easy as possible. Students can fill out the initial paperwork online on their own or see a triage counselor (or embedded counselor) for assistance. Next, the student meets with a triage counselor to determine the level of care they need and the best course of action. The process usually takes under a week and can happen in a day, if needed.
“If a student wants to be seen today, they will be seen today,” said Osburn.
For students who are referred off-campus, triage counselors can help them apply for grants to cover co-pays and other fees. Students also have access to 12 free telehealth counseling sessions via AcademicLiveCare, which offers appointments outside of the traditional 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. window.
