How Mental Health Counselors at Hispanic-Serving Institutions Perceive and Respond to Latinx Student Psychological Distress

Background and Purpose: As Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) continue to grow across the nation, it is important for universities to identify ways of supporting Latinx students from admission to graduation. One way to support Latinx students is to provide effective on-campus mental health interventions since previous studies on college student mental health report persistent psychological distress, with Latinx college students being at higher risk of suicidal ideation and self-harm (Chesin & Jeglic, 2012; Madubata et al., 2020). Current literature says that culturally validating practices are beneficial to the wellbeing of Latinx college students. However, there are no known studies that explore how college counseling centers are incorporating cultural validation into their services. The purpose of this study is to gain a deep understanding on how counselors at HSIs perceive and respond to Latinx mental health concerns.

Methods: Participants for this study were recruited from counseling centers at 4-year public HSIs, which were identified using the 2020-2021 Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities annual list of schools that meet HSI eligibility. After reviewing each school’s mental health services, a total of 120 had on-campus counseling centers. During this website search, counseling employee emails were collected for recruitment. The sample was stratified by state, and emails were randomly selected from each state for recruitment. A total of 191 counseling employees were sent recruitment emails until saturation was reached. Ten mental health professionals consented to participate and completed one-hour semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using NVivo 12 analysis software. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to inductively identify themes throughout each interview. To increase reliability, the primary investigator completed reflexive journaling and consultations with her dissertation chair. Member-checking was also conducted post analysis to confirm participants’ perspectives were accurately captured.

Results: Data analysis reveals that college counselors identified family as a common stressor among Latinx college students. They perceived higher education systems established with White supremacy creates barriers that make it difficult for Latinx students to prioritize family needs. With this perspective, participants note the importance of validating student experiences and talking about race/ethnicity and systemic barriers with intention. Furthermore, participants discussed a desire to share their perspective with faculty and staff throughout campuses.

Conclusions and Implications: The themes presented in this study indicate that college counseling centers can be a major asset in assisting Hispanic-Serving Institutions with creating opportunities to serve Latinx students. Counseling centers offer a space to explore ethnic identity, which is associated with various components of academic success. Counselors can also mediate student interactions with other departments by making strong connections with faculty and staff across campus. Higher education should consider amplifying voices within the counseling center when developing programs and policies.