Feeling homesick? RPS, CAPs can help

Students unable to cope with the transition into college can now seek help in residence halls.

Last year, Counseling and Psychological Services started offering counseling for students who were feeling homesick.

Many students struggle with adjusting to life in college and dealing with homesickness, said Nancy Stockton, director of CAPS.

“It seemed to be a very logical thing to offer counseling for,” she said.
CAPS decided to team up with Residential Programs and Services to make the free
homesick counseling more easily available, said DeeDee Dayhoff, the CAPS therapist in charge of homesickness counseling.

CAPS felt it could be more effective if it moved its counseling into the residence halls, said Marge Schrag, associate director of the Northwest neighborhood. Although the
RPS staff living in the dorms can provide support and guidance, Schrag said, they cannot provide the counseling available at CAPS.

“We are fully supporting their efforts,” Schrag said.

Stockton said she thinks it is very important to have counseling because more students suffer from some form of homesickness than people realize. The No. 1 problem is that it’s hard for most students to talk about being homesick, Dayhoff said.

Another major problem, Stockton said, is many students think they are alone in feeling homesick.

Students who come to the sessions will be in a group setting, Dayhoff said. Being able to hear from other students can help when dealing with the college transition.           

There are many tips Dayhoff suggested that can help when dealing with feelings of homesickness. She advises students not to go home for weekends, especially at the beginning of the school year. Trying to maintain a positive attitude and getting involved in activities can also help.

Dayhoff said students are more than welcome to attend multiple sessions and talk about any problems. If students would like further help they can go to CAPS for one-on-one counseling.

“We want students to know they are not alone,” Stockton said.