The ACCA Conference will feature a second keynote speaker, Dr. Brett Scofield.  Dr. Scofield earned his Doctor of Philosophy Degree from Wichita State University in Clinical-Community Psychology in 2006 and has devoted nearly his entire career to collegiate mental health, working as a clinician and administrator within numerous university-based counseling centers over the past 18 years.  He currently serves as the Associate Director of Penn State Center for Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) as well as the Executive Director of the Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH), a national practice-based research network of over 750 college counseling centers.  Dr. Scofield has played a significant role within CCMH for the past 8 years, contributing to several publications on the topic of college student mental health and helping the Center develop numerous tools that are widely used by college counseling centers nationally to advocate for services.  In addition, threat assessment and management are a particular interest of Dr. Scofield’s, having served on the Threat Assessment Teams at two major universities since 2012. 

Keynote Title:
The Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) Update: Recent Trends, the Impact of COVID-19, Counseling Center Usage and Academic Outcomes, and the Story of College Student Mental Over the Past Decade

Session Description:
The Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) at Penn State University is an international practice-research network of over 750 colleges and universities whose mission is to bridge the gap between science and practice in college counseling centers. CCMH collects and analyzes de-identified data as part of the routine practice when students seek mental health treatment at colleges and universities.  The information is used, in turn, to benefit college counseling centers, administrators, researchers, the public, and most importantly the students receiving services. 

In the current presentation, a brief history of CCMH will be reviewed.  The trends in college student mental health, impact of COVID-19, and newly collected information on students’ experiences of discrimination will be presented.  Next, the widely documented increase in demand for college counseling services over the past 1-2 decades and subsequent effect on clinical models and counselor caseloads will be discussed.  Finally, the risk and protective factors associated with student withdrawal from school during counseling will be outlined, including the implications for advocacy and policy. 

Learning Objectives:

This workshop is designed to help you:

1. Explain the most recent college student mental health trends. 
2. Describe the short and long-term trends in college student seeking counseling services.
3. Understand the components of the Clinical Load Index (CLI).
4. Explain how increases in demand for services have impacted counseling centers
5. Describe key findings of the 2022 CCMH Annual Report, including the implications for advocacy and policy.