UCLA Law School Unveils New Mental Counseling Program

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Summary: The law school at UCLA is starting a new program to be located in an office in the law library for scheduled and drop-in counseling sessions for students.

Have law students turned into sensitive babies or have law schools turned into such difficult institutions that frequent counseling is necessary? While lower bar passage rates would point towards the problem being the students, there is also a trend in the working world which suggests indicates that millennials are not as tough as they should be to also back up that reason. Law schools have not changed much over the years, and if anything have lessened their standards and provided more resources to attract students. Perhaps making things easier was a mistake. Either way, law schools are adopting their own versions of mental health counseling at an alarming pace to keep up the demands from their students. The latest school to launch their own program is UCLA.

  

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UCLA School of Law is launching a new program to provide counseling to their law students. The school’s Office for Student Affairs and Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library will house the new office, operated by the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).

UCLA School of Law Dean Jennifer Mnookin announced to law students in an email that an open house will be held for them today to learn more about the program. The office will act as a satellite CAPS center with scheduled appointments, support groups, limited follow-up services, and drop-in therapy and screening sessions. Perhaps the best part for students is that they are not required to have the University of California Student Health Insurance Plan to be eligible for the services.

The law school established the program to help support their students with personal and professional goals while assisting their students in learning and practicing the law the effectively. While it appears from the description of the program in the email that the primary goal of the program is more of a career counseling support, the timing of the new program is likely in response to growing suicide awareness.

Other law schools have adopted similar practices to provide emotional support to their students. A few schools have taken different routes to provide other means to conquering mental stress in their students with things like therapy dogs, safe rooms, paper plane activities, and breakfast feeds.

On the counseling resources web page for the University of Washington’s law school, they state that at least one in five students will seek counseling during their time in law school, emphasizing that if a number of students are already seeking support, the number who would benefit from available mental help is much greater.

The email from Mnookin stated, “Taking care of ourselves, staying mindful of our mental and emotional well-being and seeking available support resources, when needed, are all critical aspects of being effective law students and legal practitioners.”

The Center’s hours will be very limited with just Monday through Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. for scheduled sessions and 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. for drop-ins. If you find yourself needed some mental counseling the other half of the week, you will need to find something else.

Do you think law students have become too sensitive or is law school so emotionally taxing that more and more students are finally reaching out for help? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

To learn more about law schools with counseling programs, read these articles:

• Law Schools Turn to Fun Activities to De-Stress from Finals
• Bowen School of Law Embraces Therapy Animals for Relieving Stress
• Mental Health Alliance Formed by Yale Law Students
• Stanford Law Professor Helps Students Cope with Stress

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