Tougaloo College Partners with META Teletherapy for Mental and Behavioral Health Services
BUFFALO GROVE, IL – Tougaloo College has partnered with META Teletherapy, the leading mental health platform for schools, to provide mental and behavioral health services to Tougaloo students.
META offers real-time, video counseling with licensed mental health professionals that can be accessed by an app on a mobile device. As the nation’s $irst tele-therapy platform designed solely for college students, META offers an additional bene$it of receiving behavioral health services without having to visit an on-campus location. The partnership was made possible by a joint initiative between META and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) with generous funding provided for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
“The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to disrupt our daily lives and people are dealing with anxiety, depression, stress, anger and other stressors, which can have an adverse impact on their mental health. Our partnership with META Teletherapy is a step in the right direction for ensuring that students, faculty, and staff have access to quality mental health care during these challenging times. Especially in a time when we are trying to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, teletherapy is an excellent option for the Tougaloo family to obtain these vital services using technology for little or no cost. We are grateful to META, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and Educational Credit Management Corporation for making mental health access a priority for HBCUs,” said President Dr. Carmen J. Walters.
Coupled with the stress and anxiety many college students and employees already face and the growing feelings of isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic, remote counseling has become necessary to address their needs. This partnership provides the college with well-rounded mental and behavioral health offerings, complete with self-service content and access to immediate counseling services, providing convenience and a sense of privacy.
Once the app is downloaded and the registration is fully complete, students receive chat, video, or voice counseling sessions through an immediate connection or have the option to schedule a future counseling session. META is designed to allow the filtering of providers by a variety of characteristics; including, gender and therapy style so that students can select a provider who best matches their individual needs.
“Our students and employees need and deserve access to all of the mental and behavioral health services available and META Teletherapy offers a convenient way to provide those services,” said Dana West, Ph.D., executive director of the Tougaloo College Health and Wellness Center. “The efforts and generosity of TMCF and META have allowed us to expand our mental health resources for students and employees at Tougaloo.”
About Tougaloo College: Tougaloo College is a private, independent, liberal arts institution, offering undergraduate degrees in twenty-nine majors in the areas of education, the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences, and graduate degrees in education. Since its founding in 1869, the College has maintained a rich tradition of excellence, relevance, and in$luence, creating a legacy of distinction in higher education. Some of Tougaloo College’s remarkable alumni include Congressman Bennie G. Thompson; Tougaloo President Emerita Dr. Beverly Wade Hogan; NAACP President Derrick Johnson; Justice Reuben V. Anderson; Engineer and Educator Eugene DeLoatch; and Astrophysicist Hakeem M. Oluseyi. For more information about Tougaloo College, please visit www.tougaloo.edu