When therapy or counseling for students outside of school is inaccessible due to cost or long drives, counselors on campus want students know they have options available to them.

“There can definitely be delays when there’s a waiting list and long drives or things like that,” lead counselor Beth Sly said. “If people don’t get help for their mental health concerns, it can get worse.”

Sophomore Audrey Ihms said parents can sometimes be a barrier when a student is struggling with their mental health.

“My main concern is that adults say that they care, but they don’t really care,” Ihms said. “I think parents need to start asking their kids if they’re okay more and not be mad at them if they’re showing signs of depression.”

As Ihms said, Sly said family can sometimes prevent students from getting the help they need.

“When people are under 18, they also have to depend on their family, and their family may have different beliefs about mental health, so that can be a barrier,” Sly said. “There’s still stigma about mental health, and some people think that they should be able to care of themselves.”

While there can be tension between students and their parents, Ihms’ mother, Jessica Ihms, said there’s stigma around mental health and that it’s important for students to get counseling here.

“I think it’s pretty important [that students get counseling],” Jessica Ihms said. “Because a lot of the time that’s the only person they have to talk to.”

Sly said she believes everyone should be able to get counseling, and she has some advice for people who don’t have easy access to therapy or counseling.

“There are places that provide therapy for free,” Sly said. “It may not be as often as you would like to go or need to go. There are places that provide therapy based on how much money you make.”

A long with that, counseling is available on campus for all students, and Sly said that in order to get counseling here, all students have to do is walk into the counseling area and ask to talk to someone.

The counseling department will host an educational night on Wednesday, Nov. 9, to help parents learn more about the dangers of fentanyl usage.

Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD administrators produced a public service announcement that all classrooms were required to show that highlights the One Pill Can Kill campaign. The video features faces familiar to the CTHS campus.

For more information on the counseling department, click here.