Newswise — In the coming weeks, higher education administrators will inevitably be reviewing the infrastructure of their counseling services in the hopes that what happened at Virginia Tech on Monday, April 16th will not happen again. The public and the higher ed world alike are questioning how the actions of Cho Seung-Hui, the 23-year-old gunman who took 32 lives before his own, could have been prevented by the school and Virginia's psychological health system.
Dr. Brian Quigley, director of counseling & psychological services at Marymount Manhattan College, stresses that the Virginia Tech tragedy was a statistically improbable, isolated event: "The fact that this does happen so rarely shows that colleges are doing a great job behind the scenes on a daily basis. At the same time, college counseling centers work with limited resources. Hopefully this will shed some light on this problem and show that treating mental illness is as important as treating any physical malady. A sound mental health facility on any campus is just as essential and important as a medical one."
"College is a period of extraordinary personal growth for most college students and with that comes inevitable stress," says Dr. Quigley. "Overall, we need to increase our awareness that for college students, emotional wellness and personal success are as equally important goals as academic growth and success. In fact, research shows that academic success is a greater likelihood when we're attending to our students' emotional health. These are strongly interrelated and one can only be achieved in concert with the other."
Dr. Quigley was studying for his doctorate at Texas A&M University when a bonfire accident claimed the lives of 12 students. He sees similarities in how the community has reacted to these crises.
Dr. Quigley can also discuss:"¢ .The grey area between mandated psychiatric care and civil liberties that must be respected as well as the unique legal and logistical challenges that colleges face;"¢ The "hindsight bias" —the way we remember crises like Virginia Tech and 9/11 and how we are psychologically compelled to place blame and identify how we could have done things differently;"¢ How the media is portraying the event, and how the students he sees on a daily basis are reacting;"¢ What he anticipates in college counseling practices in the coming years..
Dr. Quigley holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Texas A&M University. In addition to his role at MMC, he maintains a private practice in New York City.
The mission of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at Marymount Manhattan College is to support the emotional, interpersonal, developmental, social, cultural, academic, and vocational needs of students by offering assessment, counseling, outreach, consultation, training, and educational services to students and their families, staff, faculty, and administrators. Additional functions of CAPS include the provision of psychiatric services and the design and implementation of appropriate mental health policies and procedures for the college community. We place emphasis on creating an atmosphere that is welcoming and comfortable for all individuals, regardless of race, gender, ethnic background, age, sexual orientation, religion, citizenship, or disability. We embrace diversity and strive to foster and promote awareness, empathy, and cultural competence within a multicultural environment.
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