Mantra Health is the first digital mental health clinic that works cohesively with university counseling centers like never before.

The leading digital mental health provider for university students

Your school is one of a kind, and so are your students. 

We're the fastest-growing and the only clinically-guided digital mental health solution working exclusively with colleges and universities. Our thoughtful program adapts to your school’s specific situation, and our integrated software care model was built by the leading minds in higher education mental health.

Integrated digital mental health, personalized for your campus.

A trusted provider network focused entirely on young adults mental health treatment

Collaboration Portal access for on-campus care teams

We're not interested in replacing your counseling center's operations. We work as a digital extension of your on-campus counseling staff and provider group. We equip your office with a dedicated Mantra psychiatry or therapy provider who works exclusively for your school, guaranteeing a deeper level of collaboration throughout the course of care for your students.

We help schools be present for any and all of their students.

An experience tailored to university students.

It’s just so awesome for someone to genuinely care. My therapist really understands my situation and is deeply concerned about me doing things that are in my best interest.

My provider always checked in to make sure I was keeping up with exercising and other healthy habits that we both knew helped me feel better overall.

I liked being able to message my provider when I was anxious. Even if she didn’t respond right away, it still gave me the space to update her on how I was feeling.

Today’s socio-political backdrop includes aggressive legislation limiting the very mention of sexual orientation or gender identity, the banning of books in schools and libraries, and an ongoing fight for gender-affirming healthcare. Is it any wonder, then, that students in the LGBTQ+ community are experiencing a mental health crisis, and facing unique challenges compared to their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts? 

According to a 2021 survey conducted by The Trevor Project, 62% of LGBTQ+ youth reported symptoms of a major depressive disorder in the past two weeks and 42% seriously considered suicide in the past year. While in school, LGBTQ+ students are more likely than their non-LGBTQ+ peers to experience poor mental health, bullying, and harassment. This increases for transgender and nonbinary students. 

Many of these students are actively seeking help; they just can’t access it. Sixty-percent of LGBTQ youth wanted mental health care in the past year, but were not able to get it. The most common reasons: fear of discussing mental health concerns, concerns with obtaining permission from a parent or caregivers, fear of not being taken seriously, and affordability of services. 

Higher education leaders have an opportunity to support LGBTQ+ students in an informed and sensitive manner. Here are six ways to recognize and meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community:

1. Improve and highlight your campus policies.

The best way to build a more inclusive campus and learning environment is to adjust your policies. Every college and university should have anti-bullying and harassment policies that protect LGBTQ+ staff and faculty and LGBTQ+ students, especially transgender and gender nonconforming students, LGBTQ+ students of color, and those with learning, physical, and mental health disabilities who may face additional hardships.

Make sure your policies are clear, consistent, and comprehensive and your institution's vision and mission statement is inclusive of all students, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, racial or ethnic background, and socioeconomic status. An overall indicator of your institution’s commitment to LGBTQ-inclusive policy, program and practice can be found using the Campus Pride Index.

2. Expand mental health care for LGBTQ+ college students.

Ninety-four percent of LGBQT youth said that it was important for them to have access to a 24/7 crisis line. The same percentage preferred to have access to a counselor via text. Meanwhile, 78% wished for webchat access, and 77% preferred phone access. 

Your campus may have limited mental health options for LGBTQ+ students, many of whom have intersectional identities and need more specialized, tailored services. You should consider expanding your existing counseling services and working with a mental health care provider that offers more diverse and accessible therapy and psychiatry services.

3. Make resources and guides readily available to all students, staff, faculty, and the community at large.

Offer LGBTQ+ students a guide to campus life, which includes a comprehensive list of relevant student groups, counseling center information, mental health resources, and directions to LGBTQ+-friendly spaces. The Spectrum Center at The University of Michigan provides this extensive guide listing scholarship opportunities, local clinics that provide trans care, LGBTQ+-friendly faith spaces, among other valuable resources.

You should include local and national organizations or advocacy groups, such as Trans Student Educational Resources, Point Foundation, Matthew Shepard Foundation, among others, as well as reading lists (example from Brown University), a pronoun guide (example from the University of Connecticut), a glossary, and a list of on-campus groups, which may include the Genders & Sexualities Alliance or other groups for allies.

4. Align relevant campus centers, departments, and services.

There is strength in the community. To build a better campus environment for your LGBTQ+ students, be sure to align with different stakeholders across different departments. You may have a gender and sexuality department, diversity center, LGBTQ+ center, counseling services and health centers, among others. Make sure you build a bridge between all of them, fostering consistent communication and alignment. You can also build a committee of advocates in order to discuss LGBTQ+ student needs, such as a campus task force.

Leverage your collective power to support LGBTQ+ students and protect their rights to gender expression, freedom from discrimination, the right to assemble, right to access facilities that match gender identities, and safety from bullying and harassment.

5. Provide professional development and diversity training to faculty and staff.

Most counselors and administrators (58%) do not believe they receive enough training to support the needs of LGBTQ+ students. If you have the funding, you can develop your own DEI workshops and training. You can also utilize training resources from Campus Pride, The Safe Zone Project, The Trevor Project, GLAAD, and It Gets Better Project, among other organizations. Check with your local LGBTQ+ community resource center, too, as they may also offer training and workshops accessible to your campus.

6. Foster safe and affirming spaces on campus for LGBTQ+ students.

LGBTQ youth who have access to spaces that affirm their sexual orientation and gender identity report lower rates of attempting suicide. If you don’t already have these spaces on campus, create them. In addition, student affairs should align with LGBTQ+ student groups and the institution's LGBTQ+ resource center, if it exists, to create informative, interactive, and fun events and activities for LGBTQ+ students. Encourage a sense of revelry, joy, and (yes) pride in the LGBTQ+ community by marking meaningful events. Lavender Graduation, for example, is an annual event sponsored on college campuses by the Human Rights Campaign and honors LGBTQ+ graduates. 

A commitment to LGBTQ+ students is a commitment to the whole student body. According to research conducted by Learning for Justice, LGBTQ+ students thrive in environments where their identities are acknowledged and valued. In fact, all students benefit from a school setting that priorities safety, inclusion, and accessibility. 

Improve LGBTQ+ Mental Wellness with Mantra Health

Mantra Health is a clinically-informed digital mental health company on a mission to improve young adult mental health by expanding access to therapy, psychiatry, and crisis care via telehealth. We have compiled a diverse network of providers who are trained in culturally responsive care and have unique specialities in order to properly support and treat LGBTQ+ students. 

You can learn more about our services and how we work with college campuses here. 

6 Ways to Support LGBTQ+ College Students on Campus

Insufficient funding can impact an institution’s ability to expand mental health services, attract and retain clinical providers, and adequately prepare for peaks in demand. Learn how to maximize funding for the health and well-being of college students and leverage existing resources to improve the success of your on-campus mental health care.

Here are some ways you can advocate for mental health funding, stretch your current budget, and better support your existing counseling centers and mental health programs:

Utilize Grants to Improve Mental Health Across Campus

In addition to securing private grants, which can help expand student mental health resources, colleges and universities should be leveraging federal and state grants which can increase funding for student affairs and counseling services. 

As of May 19, 2022, the Biden administration released new guidance on how best to spend Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF), which are extended through June 30, 2023. The administration strongly encourages colleges and universities to address student, faculty, and staff mental health and allocate the funds to “evidence-based best practices for meeting the growing and diverse mental health needs of students.” 

Some of the administrations suggested practices include:

Investing in Telehealth platforms offering therapy 

Offering wellness activities, such as skills-based workshops

Providing suicide prevention training to staff and faculty

Securing a crisis care hotline which offers 24/7 call/text options

Hiring additional in-person mental health professionals 

Hosting Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) trainings

Luis Manzo, PhD, Executive Director of Student Wellness at St. John’s University, suggests looking into additional federal government reimbursements for COVID-related expenses, such as telehealth services. While you may be required to provide proof of use for COVID-specific activities, this source of funding should be utilized for campus mental health services before it runs out.

Reassess the Budget for Student Mental Health Services

While student health fees, donations, and tuition fees are often primary sources of funding for mental health services, this isn't enough to support the high demand for student mental health care. In many cases, only a small portion of these funds are available for mental health services, and administrators in charge of allocating these funds may not be aware of the difficulties facing their counseling center.

While higher education budgets are hard to change once established, you can reallocate and adjust your budget to better support counseling services.

Communicate regularly with counseling center directors to better understand student needs, care gaps, and pressing mental health resources. Present this information to relevant stakeholders with the hope of attaining more funding for mental health programs and raising awareness of the problems around student mental health.

Partner with Student and Community Organizations

Higher education leaders may overlook the benefits of partnering with student organizations and other local groups, but these offer additional sources of funding. These groups are likely already advocating for on-campus mental healthcare, but can generate funding through fundraising efforts and provide more mental health resources.

“Student organizations can advocate for additional resources for your center," says Dr. Manzo. "That’s how we’ve been able to get staffing approved as well as specific staffing for specific areas, whether in athletics, residence halls, or in certain colleges.”

Students advocate in addition to administrators and leverage their personal stories to coincide with relevant data; often this motivates higher education leaders to take mental health conditions more seriously.

Foster a Collaborative Environment for Clinical Providers

One of the primary concerns on college campuses is attracting, securing, and retaining college counseling professionals. The supply does not meet the demand and counselors face salary limitations, administrative burdens, and resource constraints. Attracting and retaining providers isn't easy in higher education, but offering a rewarding work environment is an important factor to consider.

Mental health counseling center directors and counselors should be given more flexibility, autonomy, resources, support, and mental health care so they can excel in their roles while maintaining a healthy work/life balance. This may require additional service offerings, such as off-campus therapy, psychiatry, and crisis care services, so on-campus providers can shift their focus to developing mental health resources, implementing programs for suicide prevention, and responding to widespread needs across the college campus.

Maximize Telehealth Services for Student Success

More and more students are demanding telehealth services, but most university counseling services don't have the bandwidth to offer this. Expanding your service offerings by securing a telehealth provider can lessen the strain on your counseling center, while simultaneously increasing access to college students.

At Mantra Health, we understand that most institutions face budgeting constraints, which is why we work directly with colleges and universities to fill gaps in care and provide additional support to on-campus providers. Our provider network can not only accommodate the growing need for more mental health care, but offer students more diverse and flexible care options. We work with our partners during and outside of the academic year to ensure that every student, regardless of their situation, can access therapy when needed. We want to ensure that students everywhere have equitable access to efficient and quality mental health services.

Reducing the workload for on-campus providers and expanding mental health services via telehealth is critical now more than ever. Since attracting and retaining providers with limited funding is a significant concern among higher education administrators, we encourage you to read our white paper on provider burnout to better understand the challenges facing your college counseling services. 

Maximize Your Funding Resources for Student Mental Health Services

College students are facing unprecedented levels of stress, as they endure heavy workloads, crippling student loan debt, environmental crises, academic pressures, social barriers, and other serious concerns, so it comes as no surprise that 34% percent have anxiety and 41% suffer from depression. 

Campus counseling centers know the rising concerns and are working overtime to support students, but are, far too often, short-staffed, under-resourced, underfunded, and unable to meet the growing demand. They also have limited networks and few psychiatrists on staff, if any, who have the expertise and credentials needed to address more complex psychiatric issues.

While the majority of college presidents have recognized mental health as the most pressing issue on their campus, few employ psychiatrists – or invest in comprehensive psychiatric care, which is often needed to address severe mental illnesses like severe depression, psychotic disorders, and schizophrenia, among others. This gap has a crippling effect on students’ health, well-being, and success on campus – and could be a contributing factor to the 43-86% dropout rate among students with mental illness.

Nora Feldpausch, M.D., Medical Director of the Wellround Provider Network at Mantra Health, believes that every college campus should take a holistic approach to address student mental health and include telepsychiatry in their service offerings. Doing so is no longer simply a benefit, but a necessity. 

The importance of psychiatry in college mental health care

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, students were facing high levels of severe mental health conditions. According to a Healthy Minds Study, which included 10 years of population-level data, lifetime mental health diagnoses among students rose from 22% to 36% – and 88% of counseling centers reported an increase in treatment seeking behaviors over a five-year period.

There’s no question that mental health services are needed, but college leaders need to think beyond this to account for students’ complex mental health concerns. By adding psychiatric services to a counseling center’s offerings, colleges can actually work across departments and specialties to meet the personalized needs of students, many of whom are arriving on campus with pre-existing conditions, severe disorders, and comprehensive treatment plans. 

Psychiatrists are highly trained in complex mental health disorders and can work closely with on-campus providers and clinicians to co-manage mental health disorders and provide a holistic, cognitive behavioral approach to care, Dr. Feldpausch says. Psychiatrists should not replace current clinicians, but act as consultants, so on-campus providers and clinicians are supported rather than overburdened with issues they can’t solve on their own. 

Adding telepsychiatry to on-campus offerings and supporting continuity of care

With college students living off campus, in remote locations, without transportation access, and with significant personal obligations, college leaders need to consider alternative options to care. Not every student has the time, ability, or desire to visit their on-campus counseling center, especially when wait-lines are preventing them from accessing services quickly. This is where teletherapy and telepsychiatry come in – and offer a more sustainable, long-term solution.

In addition to providing virtual therapy sessions, colleges can work with psychiatrists to offer medication management support to students battling severe mental health disorders. Adding on teletherapy and telepsychiatry to current offerings allows students to access mental health care outside of counseling center hours, connect with more diverse providers who have unique specialties, and engage in sessions from anywhere, including their home or workplace. 

“We’ve had students join sessions at private locations from their workplace,” says Dr. Feldpausch – and she says more and more students are now requesting teletherapy and telepsychiatry services as they live in remote areas, can’t access transportation, or wish to continue their care virtually over the summer months or on breaks. 

Reaching more students with Mantra Health

Every student is unique. When colleges and universities limit their mental health options to in-person care, they miss an opportunity to address personal preferences and more severe mental health conditions. Not every student wants to visit a mental health professional and many feel their needs aren’t being met by the limited on-campus staff members whose specialities or backgrounds don’t align with their concerns. 

While working with Colgate University in Madison County, New York, we have found that telepsychiatry services could drive a major shift in the college’s quality of mental health care. When providers work together on a consistent basis, they can leverage each other’s skills, expertise, and training to provide the best, most holistic care to their student patients. This includes reviewing student medical records, conducting symptom severity screenings to monitor improvement in treatment, and recognizing physical symptoms to identify and treat existing and developing conditions. 

Our psychiatric services at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, also resulted in significant mental health improvements. Among the students requesting services in 2021, 95% attended their scheduled intake appointment and 89% attended a follow-up appointment. In addition, 66% saw improvements in anxiety symptoms and 45% saw improvements in depression symptoms.

At Mantra Health, we have developed our own provider network to accommodate the comprehensive, personalized needs of students and we work closely with counseling centers to connect them to diverse providers who are trained in specialty areas. For many students, this is a non-negotiable. If a provider doesn’t understand or can’t speak to their racial, gender, identity, or socioeconomic concern, then mental health conditions can worsen – and students may be discouraged from seeking services in the future.

We have the fastest-growing, clinically-backed digital mental health solution for college students and we’re on a mission to increase access and improve the quality of care for college students, while relieving the strains put on health centers. 

If you want to learn more about our offerings and how we’re changing youth mental health care for the better, please get in touch with us today! 

The Rising Need for Telepsychiatry on College Campuses

The leading digital mental health provider for university students

Integrated digital mental health, personalized for your campus.

In the media.

For Universities: Our Program

We help schools be present for any and all of their students.

Our Comprehensive Program

Trusted by institutions like:

For Students

An experience tailored to university students.

Lifestyle Changes

24/7 Messaging,
Video Appointments

Progress Tracking

Hear from Students

Why Mantra

Blog

6 Ways to Support LGBTQ+ College Students on Campus

Maximize Your Funding Resources for Student Mental Health Services

The Rising Need for Telepsychiatry on College Campuses

The leading digital mental health provider for university students

Integrated digital mental health, personalized for your campus.

In the media.

For Universities: Our Program

We help schools be present for any and all of their students.

Our Comprehensive Program

Trusted by institutions like:

For Students

An experience tailored to university students.

Lifestyle Changes

24/7 Messaging, Video Appointments

Progress Tracking

Hear from Students

Why Mantra

Blog

6 Ways to Support LGBTQ+ College Students on Campus

Maximize Your Funding Resources for Student Mental Health Services

The Rising Need for Telepsychiatry on College Campuses

24/7 Messaging,
Video Appointments