UIC Counseling Center’s director explains new resources for student mental health

In January, Shenay Bridges-Carter became the new executive director of UIC’s Counseling Center. With 15 years of experience as a licensed clinical psychologist in college student mental health, she’s well-suited for the role. But she also has a big task in front of her: to improve mental health and wellness outcomes for all students through transformative change to both campus culture and the Counseling Center itself. 

In the last eight months, she’s already made substantial changes at the center, from developing cross-campus partnerships to enhancing services with third-party relationships. And she has more plans ahead. 

“I have big, big dreams for what the Counseling Center could be and what we’re able to do,” Bridges-Carter said in a recent discussion with UIC today. She also explained the mental health resources students returning to campus this fall can expect and what other recent changes will mean for mental health across the UIC community.  

How does the Counseling Center ensure its services are accessible and inclusive to all students? 

I’m going to talk a bit about things that UIC has always done, but I’m also really excited to introduce new initiatives that we are doing.  

We already have a diverse staff, both in terms of ethnicity and sexual orientation and who have experience with neurodivergence. We have mental health professionals from a variety of ages and people who speak multiple languages. We have psychologists, counselors and social workers, so even by discipline, we have a lot of variety amongst our staff.  

We know we have a lot of commuter students who might not be on campus all the time, so we try to make our services as accessible as possible to students who might have a preference for either coming in and seeing someone in the office or who want to access that remotely.  

Something new we’re introducing right now is a service called TimelyCare, which is a third-party company we are partnering with to provide teletherapy. Students will be able to access both counseling and psychiatry services through TimelyCare, and they don’t have to pay for it, because it’s a partnership.  

One of the key benefits of TimelyCare is the hours of access, and students can have sessions as late as 10 p.m. with some services available on the weekends.  

Also new, we have eliminated session limits, or caps on how many times a student could visit the Counseling Center, which was something a lot of students perceived to be a limitation. We still rely on short-term therapy, and we also have people who will work with our students to connect them with an off-campus provider that can see them for longer-term treatment if they need that.  

We also have group therapy, which is a longer-term treatment option at the Counseling Center. We are increasing the types of groups we’re providing to students this fall, and we’re really excited to help students identify a group option that might be a good fit for them to engage in for a year or two years, or even longer if it fits their needs.

What’s your vision for the Counseling Center in the coming years, and how will you enhance mental health support for UIC students? 

I have big, big dreams for what the Counseling Center could be and what we’re able to do. 

What we want to do is intervene earlier. We want to be more preventative and less reactionary to student mental health crises. We want to be able to engage with students earlier on, so they know before things reach this crucial point that they can access a variety of services or workshops that we offer. We want to reach students in those spaces where they feel comfortable and in a time that doesn’t feel like a crisis-type situation.  

We want to decrease the perceived stigma of actually coming into the Counseling Center. We don’t want that to feel intimidating or feel like a challenge. We want to make the Counseling Center seem more inviting.  

One thing we’re really looking at is virtual-reality glasses that take students to mindful types of places where they’re really able to envision — in a VR sense — what it’s like to destress and to engage in mindfulness practices. With these experiences, students will see the Counseling Center as a space that they can come to engage and get help that doesn’t have to be mental health crisis-induced.  

As a psychologist, what is your best, practical advice for maintaining mental health while in college?  

I think back to when I was in college, and the thing that helped get me through difficult times was really getting connected. That connection to people, groups and activities that brought me joy and belonging was very helpful. 

I know sometimes that’s more difficult when we’re talking about our students who don’t reside on campus, but it’s important for them to look for opportunities and take time to figure out where they can get connected.  

I would recommend that students think about: What is a point of connection for you here at UIC that will speak to you or that will help keep you motivated? I recommend looking for groups or programs that are in alignment with your goals and the type of person and student that you want to be.  

Connection with other people is a good preventative measure against some of those more significant types of mental health crises that can be triggered by feelings of isolation.  

Read more about UIC’s ongoing commitment to student mental health: 

UIC seeing results of multiyear investment in mental health resources

Counseling Center strengthens impact with more staff, restructure

UIC community trains to give mental health first aid

Grad students embed in colleges to improve student mental health