Articles and research from our team on the future of mental healthcare for young adults.

Mantra Health recruits VPs from Noodle, Tempest and NOCD, the #1 telehealth provider of OCD treatment. 

New hires include Yiwen Looi as VP of Marketing, Hunter Davis as VP of Engineering, Allie Schwartz as VP of People, Alex Xu as VP of Virtual Care Operations, and Kelly Carleton was promoted to VP of Program Success.

The new leadership team joins Mantra as the company continues to expand its footprint to provide the most clinically-informed virtual mental health program to college campuses nationwide.

NEW YORK, June 9, 2022 — Mantra Health, the preeminent digital mental health clinic focused on young adults, today announced several new additions to its leadership team, adding Yiwen Looi as VP of Marketing, Hunter Davis as VP of Engineering, Allie Schwartz as VP of People, Alex Xu as VP of Virtual Care Operations, and promoting Kelly Carleton to VP of Program Success. Collectively, they bring several decades of collective experience in digital health and education technology, and will augment Mantra Health’s brand awareness and fortify its relationships with schools and mental health professionals.

This all-star leadership team joins Mantra Health during a moment of significant development. Mantra Health’s growth has skyrocketed since its debut in 2020, and its high-quality virtual counseling is now available to over 500,000 students across 52 colleges and universities ranging from Ivy League institutions to community colleges. 

As a result of college counseling centers adopting Mantra’s evidence-based, collaborative approach to support students with increased access to care, students have achieved positive clinical and academic outcomes. In fact, in a recent quarterly patient NPS survey, 81% of students stated that Mantra made it easy for them to manage their mental health, 68% of students attribute Mantra Health’s services to improved academic results, and ultimately 70% of participants credit the services to helping them stay in school. 

“It’s a great privilege to be part of an organization that is committed to not only improving the mental health of 20 million young adults attending postsecondary schools but also has a deep focus on the mental health wellbeing of its own workforce,” said Allie Schwartz, VP of People at Mantra Health. “Mantra practices what they preach, and I’m happy to be spearheading the cultivation of human connection and well-being with all employees in-person and remote.”

All of Mantra Health’s new Vice Presidents bring invaluable experience from the nation's leading digital health, digital wellness, and edtech companies. At Mantra, they will be responsible for many aspects of how higher education institutions, counselors, and students experience Mantra’s clinical excellence and white-glove patient services:

VP of Marketing, Yiwen Looi and VP of Program Success, Kelly Carleton are leading Mantra's go-to-market functions. They will be focused on driving greater awareness of Mantra Health’s mission and services, and ensuring that each of Mantra’s institutional partners receives a high quality of patient service and clinical care. Yiwen brings almost 13 years of marketing leadership experience from the edtech ecosystem. Prior to joining Mantra, Yiwen was the VP of Marketing at Noodle, the nation’s fastest-growing online education network. Kelly was promoted from within Mantra Health and has been instrumental to Mantra’s success thus far. Prior to her promotion, Kelly was Mantra’s Clinical Operations Director, running everything from care navigation to provider recruiting and university partner management. Before joining Mantra, Kelly was the Project Manager of the Behavioral Health Integration Program at Montefiore Medical Center.


As VP of Engineering, Hunter Davis will evolve and fortify Mantra’s engineering stack and scale the engineering team as the company accelerates its technology investment. Hunter’s work will ultimately facilitate collaboration with Mantra’s school partners and deliver quality mental health care to students at every stage of their care journey. Hunter brings over 18 years of engineering leadership experience. Before joining Mantra Health, Hunter was the Director of Engineering of RealSelf, the medical aesthetics industry digital marketplace.


As VP of Virtual Care Operations, Alex Xu will build and retain a nationwide network of providers specializing in young adult mental health care, while creating the best end to end patient experience with care navigation. Prior to Mantra Health, Alex was the VP of Network Operations at NOOCD, the #1 telehealth provider of OCD treatment. Before NOCD, Alex was at Lyra Health, the leading workforce mental health solutions provider for employers. Alex also had operations leadership roles at Uber and ofo, an international bike-share platform.


As VP of People, Allie Schwartz will build Mantra Health as the premier place to work in the mental health industry. She’ll also be responsible for creating connections within the company’s hybrid remote workplace as it continues to scale this year. Allie brings over 15 years of human resources leadership; most recently she was the VP of People at Tempest, the digital alcohol recovery program.

“We’re thrilled to have such a high caliber of professionals joining the Mantra team and helping to strengthen our go-to-market strategy and enhance the experience for our university partners and patients,” said Ed Gaussen, CEO and co-founder, Mantra Health. “Their combined experience and deep understanding of the latest innovations in education, technology and healthcare is essential to Mantra’s rapid expansion and to ensure Mantra’s services are available to all colleges and universities as we continue to combat the campus mental health crisis.”

In January, Mantra Health closed a Series A fundraising round. Among other goals, the capital injection was meant to enable Mantra to quadruple its headcount over the next year across all aspects of the business from product development to go-to-market and clinical operations. 

Mantra Health is a digital mental health clinic on a mission to improve access to evidence-based mental healthcare for young adults. Through augmenting high-quality clinical services with software and design, we're on a mission to improve the mental health of over 20 million university and college students through partnerships with higher education institutions and health insurance plans. As of Spring 2022, Mantra’s program has been deployed across 52 campuses with over 500,000 students including Penn State, MIT, Cornell, and Miami Dade College.

Press Release: Mantra Health Expands Leadership Team With Five New Vice Presidents

“Everybody’s competing to win. [Student-athletes] are driven to be perfect. They’re afraid to fail in the area and there is certainly a lot of external pressure to that,” said James Borchers, MD, President and CEO of the U.S. Council for Athletes’ Health. “You [now] have individuals that have not developed the skillset to be able to deal with those pressures.”

Dr. Borchers and Jeffrey J. Milroy, Dr.Ph, Director of Programs for Prevention Strategies, joined moderator Farah Gilani, LPC-S, Clinical Solutions Consultant at Mantra Health for a discussion on resilience and improving the mental wellness of student-athletes on campus, which you can watch here.

Defined as “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change,” resilience gives student-athletes the ability to bounce back from a loss, an unexpected injury, or other unforeseen obstacles. How can athletic directors, coaches, athletic trainers, and other athletic leaders teach resilience to student-athletes and help them thrive when faced with adversity?

Recognize the Unique Needs of this Generation

Unlike generations before, the Gen Z population is heavily influenced by the things going on in the world and are more likely to embrace societal change and address social issues like climate change. 

“When things happen, they do feel more burdened by it than generations [before them],” Dr. Borchers explains. “They want to work towards making the world a better place.” While this is certainly a good thing, this can add pressure and stress on student-athletes who are already overburdened with responsibilities. 

This generation wants to be included in conversations. Rather than simply advising, athletic leaders, especially coaches, should focus on bringing athletes into the process, giving them a voice and listening to what they need to be most successful. This may require a change in communication style. 

“Coaches can [practice] a lot more listening, a lot less talking,” says Dr. Milroy. Using shorter, more impactful statements rather than giving longer, impassioned speeches can be more effective, Dr. Borchers explains. By listening intently and with empathy to athletes, coaches have the opportunity to gather information, practice active listening, and better assess the mental health needs of the athletes. 

Empathy in sport can keep athletes connected and enhance athletic performance, all while reminding athletes that they’re not alone, that their experience is shared by others. You can utilize the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)’s Sport Science Institute’s empathetic response training video to get started. 

Athletes aren’t going to win every game, every match, but that won’t stop them trying. While there’s nothing wrong with the desire to win, perfection is unattainable – and student-athletes need to be reminded of this fact. 

Coaches can introduce student-athletes to mini-hardships and help student-athletes cope with hardship in practice, outside of practice, and during games or matches. Rather than forcing an athlete to do pushups or run when a mistake occurs, ask them to express their feelings. Let them know that their frustration and embarrassment is not something to be ashamed of, but simply a part of the experience.

It’s also important for athletic leaders to demonstrate resilience. When a coach loses a game, how do they respond? Athletes are young and vulnerable and they will model the behavior they witness. This is why coaches need to practice healthy mental health habits and work on their own emotional response to a loss or hardship. 

Failures are bound to happen, but they’re not personal failures, and in sport, this needs to be acknowledged. “The failure is going to be there,” Dr. Milroy explains. Student-athletes need to know that they have the support, the resources, and the community available to overcome these challenges. This can start with hiring and making sure that each member of the athletic department is prepared to create a supportive environment. 

Building resilience is “a marathon, not a sprint,” says Dr. Borchers. It won’t happen overnight. It takes time and it requires ongoing learning for coaches, athletic staff, and others involved in the athletic program.

Make Mental Health a Priority – and Build in Collaboration

“People want a great experience and they want to win,” Dr. Borchers explains, but far too often, measurements of success in sport are tied to winning and athletes in college are young 18 to 22 year olds who don’t necessarily have the skill set to handle loss.

Athletic departments are generally siloed from other departments on campus and this is a problem, as they typically handle problems in insulation, rather than working with other campus departments to solve them. If it continues this way, Dr. Borchers says sport will fail. “It will fail because this generation and the people to follow are not going to accept it.”

Athletic leaders have a unique opportunity to reimagine the way they’re working – and make concrete changes to build a better program for the future. This requires a new approach and a new way of thinking. The best athletic directors and coaches understand this and are making mental wellness a priority. 

It’s far too easy to leave mental health to the clinical experts, but we all play a role in supporting the health and well-being of college students. You can lend an ear when an athlete is having a difficult day, but you can also train yourself in identifying signs and symptoms of mental distress, so you can take action and intervene early. 

Athletic directors can take initiative to build committees or host regular meetings with cross-campus stakeholders that focus solely on student mental health. They can also foster more collaborative relationships between on-campus and off-campus resources – including the counseling center, health center, student affairs department – which will help improve the student-athlete experience on campus.

“The goal [is] to support [student-athletes] and meet their needs [so they can get] back to what they love, which is the competition,” says Dr. Milroy. To win in sport, athletes must stay mentally focused, but they can’t do that if they’re battling anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues. 

Improving Mental Health Access for Student-Athletes

When a student-athlete has a mental health concern and needs support, where do they go? Is therapy or psychiatry available to them? What resources can they easily access? We need to protect college athletes' physical and mental health by equipping athletic departments, coaches, and students with the proper tools to build mental wellness.

At Mantra Health, we're dedicated to providing the resources and proper mental health care for collegiate athletes, so they can withstand everyday failures, anxieties, and other mental health challenges. 

Watch How to Redefine and Reimagine the Power of Resilience and Improve Student-Athlete Mental Well-Being here and join us for the next webinar in our student-athlete webinar series on July 11, 2022. RSVP here.

Experts from Prevention Strategies and USCAH Address the Power of Resilience Among Student-Athletes

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

Mental health matters every day of the year, but especially during times of crisis. At Mantra Health, we have hired a phenomenal team of creatives, experts, clinicians, leaders, and mental health advocates, all of whom hold additional roles of parent, friend, relative, child, partner, community member, and loved one. We are all humans, first and foremost, and we have basic human needs. 

When there’s a national crisis, political event, weather-related disaster, public health emergency, or personal tragedy, we should strive to give employees the grace and autonomy to respond and grieve on their own terms. This not only prevents burnout, but encourages a healthy work/life balance. 

Take a Proactive, Collaborative Approach to Mental Health

According to Mental Health America’s (MHA) Mind the Workplace 2022 Report, four out of five employees say workplace stress affects their relationships with friends, family, and coworkers – and while 47% of employees know about their company’s mental health services, only 38% feel comfortable using them. If we want our employees to strengthen their mental health, we have to give them the opportunity to do so.

Offering mental health benefits, such as flexible hours, ample paid time off, access to mental health resources, like meditation and therapy, is just one step in supporting employee health and wellbeing. It needs to be a collaborative and proactive priority. At Mantra Health, we’re focused on cultivating a company culture of compassion and understanding. 

“We take a proactive approach to employee mental health and wellness,” says Allie Schwartz, VP of People Operations at Mantra Health. “We don’t just give employees unlimited time off. We track their time taken to encourage them to utilize their PTO throughout the year. We also host training sessions for new employees on supporting their colleague’s mental health. We encourage teammates to turn off notifications after hours, block time off for focused work, and build a schedule that best suits their preferred way of working and we offer meditation and yoga classes, in addition to free Talkspace subscriptions.”

We know that mental health goes beyond mental health benefits. It’s important to create a culture of collaboration, so employees feel comfortable to ask questions, set boundaries, and adjust their days to accommodate their personal needs. 

Since joining the Mantra Health, Nicole Wheeler, M.A. NCC LPC, Mantra Health Provider, said that her family and friends have noticed that her stress levels have lowered. “If just the work environment has had this impact on me, imagine how we are impacting the clients. It all starts with leadership. I’ve had lots of job offers and I keep turning them down [because of] how happy I am.”

“I decided to work for Mantra Health because of the population we serve,” said Maribel Aheran, EdD, LMHC, Mental Health Provider, who likes the company culture and the professionalism and respect that’s offered to providers. 

Ted Wolf, Analytics Manager at Mantra Health, said, “It's the first time in my career that a professional opportunity truly aligned with something I'm passionate about as a person… I've struggled with major depression and anxiety since I was [a teenager], and college was the lowest point… I didn't know how to navigate anything or what the next steps even were, and it took me three full years after I accepted the fact that I had a mental health issue to even begin therapy because I had to figure everything out on my own. If I found therapy and the care I needed while I was in school, I can only imagine how much better my experience as a student and overall life would have been. So, [now I] get the chance to provide that for thousands of students while also furthering my own skills.”

Becky Arroyo, LMHC, Mantra Health Provider, said, “I get to focus on my work with clients and also my personal life, which in turn allows me to show up 100% for my clients.”

How Our Team Prioritizes Mental Health – and How You Can, Too

No one is immune from stress, anxiety, or mental health issues, but some of the hardest hit are clinical providers who offer unconditional care to others. We asked some of our providers how they take care of their mental health and here’s what they said:

“I make time to disconnect from ‘noise’ or stimuli such as staying away from electronics and social media while enjoying the silence.” – Maria Ximena Cortada, LCSW, Mantra Health Provider

“I keep my hygiene routines, even when I'm really tired or struggling. Sometimes, just having the routine makes me do the task without thinking. [Putting] one foot in front of the other, one brushing of the teeth or a healthy meal or quick rest at a time, puts me back on track.” – Sarah Barrett, LCSW, Mantra Health Provider

“[I focus on] spending time enjoying my family, sitting down and drinking coffee, working outside, or going for a bike ride.” – Marie-Anne Abenroth MA, LPC, LAC, NCC

“I set boundaries, I set limits, I spend alone time, I spend time with my family and friends, I give back, I limit my working hours, I go for walks, I go outside 20 minutes a day no matter what, I hug my husband, I hug my children, I hug my dogs and cats, I laugh often, I appreciate everything I have, I do not waste time on drama, I practice kindness, I talk to my friends, [and] when needed, I [reach] out for mental health support.” – Donna Marley, LCSW, Mantra Health Provider

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to mental health care, but far too often stigma, social barriers, financial strains, limited care access, work constraints, and other factors prevent people from speaking up, taking personal breaks, and accessing mental health services. We want to make sure each teammate feels supported – and if they don’t, we should work with them individually to change this.

Protect Your Employees’ Wellbeing Year-Round

A company is only as successful as its people – and people need more than tools and resources to thrive in the workplace. To protect team mental health, it’s important to talk openly about mental health issues, acknowledge times of stress, and praise mental health best practices. 

Here at Mantra Health, we’re lucky to have a team that is not only dedicated to the company mission, but is also full of empathy and compassion. Our leadership team also knows how important self-care is and encourages employees to set boundaries around personal time, schedule doctor visits during the day, say “no” to unnecessary meeting invites, take PTO when needed, eat lunch away from the desk or office, and speak up about their mental health needs. When we foster this kind of environment, we make it easier for employees to take care of themselves during difficult times. 

To learn more about Mantra Health and how we’re building a team of providers to expand mental health access on college campuses, contact us at partner@mantrahealth.com. 

Standing Together for Mental Health: Supporting Employee Wellbeing During Times of Crisis

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

Mental health inequities have disproportionately impacted historically marginalized populations for decades – and this is true on college campuses all across the country. Among the most vulnerable are students with disabilities, low-income students, BIPOC students, students in the LGBTQ+ community, and students living in remote areas. 

Students identifying as LGBTQIA+, for example, are experiencing more stress, feelings of loneliness or isolation, difficulty with schoolwork, and depression compared to their non-LGBTQIA+ counterparts – and 42% seriously considered attempting suicide in 2020. Likewise, students of color are facing higher rates of depression compared to their white counterparts, and among those with intersectional identities, the barriers are even more aggravated. 

In addition to witnessing ongoing pandemic, changing political climate, rising social justice movement, and uncertain economic climate, students are facing numerous personal hardships, including financial strain, cultural differences, academic pressures, trauma, discrimination or racial microaggressions, all which is leading to worsening student mental health outcomes and a greater need for mental health support on campus.

Barriers Preventing Students from Accessing Mental Health Services

When faced with high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues, students should be turning to on-campus mental health services, but many students of color and those in minority populations will not – and it’s not because they’re busy balancing school assignments, family obligations, sports, work schedules, or other aspects of college life, though that is often the case. In addition to facing numerous social determinants of health, these student populations face the very real possibility of inappropriate, ineffective, or lower quality care. 

“Research suggests that although there's a great need for mental health services among historically marginalized college and university students, there are significant barriers to accessing and actually using quality-affirming care,” says Farah Gilani, LPC-S, a clinical solutions consultant at Mantra Health.

On-campus counseling centers provide tremendous value to students, but clinicians aren’t always trained in cultural competence and may not have expertise in working with BIPOC, LGBTQ+, or other minority populations – and this can, unfortunately, lessen the effectiveness of a student’s treatment or care. Understanding a college student’s cultural background, linguistic need, or identity challenges can not only enhance a student’s care experience, but can improve their overall mental health. 

Studies on microaggressions and cultural competence in mental healthcare have shown that minority clients are 50% more likely to prematurely terminate their relationship with a counselor or mental health professional after the initial meeting – and this has a direct impact on the individual’s mental health. 

To achieve greater student health equity on campus, colleges and universities must revitalize their mental health offerings and recognize the unique behavioral and mental health needs of minority populations. In doing so, student mental health will improve – and so, too, will student success. Here’s what you can do to improve your mental health care on campus:

Colleges should be collecting information on students’ backgrounds, identities, and preferences in order to develop and offer more tailored resources, programs, and service offerings. The more accurate the numbers, the easier it is to build proposals for funding, develop comprehensive student support services, and implement training sessions. Leverage your campus climate surveys and other screening tools to better understand your student body and what they need to succeed on campus.

Is your existing structure conducive to all students, regardless of their background, identity, or lifestyle? If not, consider adjusting your policies or procedures to better account for student preferences. A gender non-conforming student, for example, may not want to choose a gender on forms, or they may wish to use a chosen name as opposed to a birth name in their student email or on their student ID. Changes to the existing structure may require cross-campus collaboration, but would make a significant difference to the individual student. 

Train providers and campus staff in cultural competence and humility

Clinical providers, as well as staff, professors, and other higher education leaders should be engaging in the most culturally-responsive practices. It’s not enough to simply understand cultural barriers; colleges and universities should strive for cultural competence and humility. Beyond providing written materials, you can host webinars, training sessions, or workshops for providers, as well as faculty, staff, and students. Make sure everyone on campus is given the opportunity to learn and grow.

Provide more personalized offerings to minority students

Navigating mental health as a minority student is challenging, especially when resources are tailored to white cisgendered students. Ensure that all intersectional identities are reflected in campus offerings, including in mental health resources, workshops, clubs, peer support groups, community spaces, and clinical providers. If you’re unsure what students want or need, simply ask. 

Extending your school’s mental health services to include telemental health providers is an important step in removing barriers to care, but isn’t enough to meet minority students’ needs. Colleges and universities should ensure that their provider network is full of diverse providers who have unique specialities and can meet students where they are. Hiring BIPOC providers is important, but so is hiring providers who have expertise in working with students with disabilities or students who are parents or international students who face language and cultural barriers. 

Closing the student mental health equity gap won’t happen overnight, but colleges and universities can take many steps to improve their diversity and inclusion efforts across all aspects of student life. Expanding counseling center offerings to include more diverse care is just one aspect of the solution, but it can make a big difference to the minority students who don’t currently have access to quality mental health services. 

Mantra Health can work with higher education leaders to address student mental health needs. Our 50-state provider group is trained in cultural competence (and humility). Fifty-percent of our providers identify as BIPOC and have lived experiences. To learn more about our mental health service offerings and how we can work with your campus, contact our partnerships team today. 

How to Address Student Mental Health Equity on Campus