McMaster students share their experiences accessing the SWC and what the service has done to enhance student accessibility

The Student Wellness Centre is a McMaster University service that provides undergraduate and graduate students counselling and medical care as well as undertakes health promotion initiatives. In September 2023, the Silhouette spoke with Debbie Nifakis, a psychologist and SWC’s associate director of counselling, as well as with three undergraduate students about their relationship with the SWC.

Nifakis shared that the SWC cares very deeply about their counselling services. Currently, the SWC operates under the Pathways to Care model, which offers students a diverse array of resources in an effort to help find the best combination of service for an individual.

“With Pathways to Care, it helps people to see what are the different options that you have when you come here ... So it really helped the counselor and the student together to look at "what are your needs and where would you best get them met?",” said Nifakis.  

Fiona Allen, a fourth-year Health Sciences student at McMaster, has accessed both SWC medical care and mental health services. Allen explained that she found the service to be very helpful and organized, as she was able to have both a general practitioner and a psychiatrist through the SWC  

“I found even like the general physicians, who see you for all of your medical needs, they're very knowledgeable of mental health and they were very understanding,” said Allen. 

Breanne Poernbacher, a fourth-year anthropology student at McMaster, sought out mental health support from the SWC this past summer. She explained that she is very appreciative of the medical care she has received and encouraged those who need it to seek support from the SWC. She emphasized how the SWC's trauma-centered approach was a good fit for her while seeking support.

“Even before the whole procedure, which is a very safe procedure, [the doctor said] "Yeah, [any] worries that I can address? Do you want me to like tell you before I touch you, or are you comfortable with this?" It's just really nice that that's in their practice. It makes it a lot more comfortable as someone that survived trauma to access that,” said Poernbacher.  

Poernbacher explained that while she felt the support she received from the SWC was a positive experience, she also felt she had to overshare to the front desk in order to convey the urgency of her requiring support. 

“If I left that information out they probably would have tried to push my appointment to the next day or the next week even,” said Poernbacher. 

Anisah Ali, a fourth-year Health and Society with a specialization in Mental Health and Addiction student at McMaster, accessed the counselling service at start of her undergraduate education and now again in her last year.  

Ali shared that she began counselling in Aug. 2023. She shared that despite the overall positive and smooth intake, she was a bit disappointed to learn that they currently do not have any South-Asian therapists working.

Ali shared that during the time of her intake, the only South-Asian therapist employed was on leave. In a follow-up statement six months later, she stated she had become well acquainted with her current therapist and was not interested in switching. However, she noted that to her knowledge therapists at SWC lack diversity relative to who they treat.

“It was unfortunate to not have somebody who gets my cultural background, because obviously, that informs what I see from therapy,” said Ali. 

It was unfortunate to not have somebody who gets my cultural background, because obviously, that informs what I see from therapy.

Anisah Ali
Fourth-year Health and Society student

Moreover, both Allen and Ali both expressed that an area for improvement would be the capacity of staff for counselling services. Allen shared that overall she is very happy with her service, but she wished the wait times could be reduced. Ali expressed that with a larger capacity, they would be able to take more students in per day. 

“Probably, if anything, it would just be reducing the wait times. I know that's difficult because there's obviously a lot of students and a lot of students who have mental health needs [and] general medical needs and only so many staff, but I feel that that would be a great place to invest,” said Allen. 

Nifakis shared that her team wanted to counter this by introducing a walk-in system last year, which is now titled the drop-in system. The goal was to make counselling more accessible so people could get the help they needed on the same day.  

Nifakis shared that there was an overwhelmingly positive response, but did not provide any data to support this claim when asked through email correspondence.  

Nifakis also explained that sometimes despite their best efforts, sometimes they need to turn people away. She explained that situations deemed emergencies are prioritized. Nifakis expressed that resources are limited for the service, though they plan to hire a few more people. 

“Now even walking in is a little bit limited because if we had two or three counselors on there would only allow for maybe six, seven people. So there were days where we might have had to turn people away, because we just didn't have enough openings for the walk in. So that's always a bit of an issue,” said Nifakis.  

Poernbacher shared an earlier experience where she was unable to receive counselling care at a frequent basis that accommodated her well-being.  

Poernbacher partook in one of their counselling services that help students overcome a particular situation in their life, but she expressed that not being able to access that therapist after the eighth-week mark had been difficult. 

“Now I am without a therapist and I have been recommended to continue long term care. So that's why I ended up finding a therapist outside of SWC and pretty much paying out of pocket,” said Poernbacher.

Now I am without a therapist and I have been recommended to continue long term care. So that's why I ended up finding a therapist outside of SWC and pretty much paying out of pocket.

Breanne Poernbacher
Fourth-year Anthropology student

In March 2024 we reached out to Fezan Khokhar, the director of the McMaster Students Union's Emergency First Response Team, to discuss findings from the report they shared with the MSU Executive Board in February 2024.

In their report, it was noted that between August 2023 and February 2024 there was a decrease in mental health calls, in comparison to the previous year’s report. Khokhar shared that these statistics are subject to change as the full year's data has not yet been collected.

In the EFRT report, they also attributed this decrease in part to SWC drop-in counseling and the hiring of a mental health nurse through a McMaster initiative initiative called the Student Urgent Response Team. The goal of the latter program was to have someone specialized in order to support students in crisis, alongside other campus security staff. This project was funded by Bell Let's Talk's implementation grant, which provided McMaster $100,000.

Khokhar explained that in a conversation with Rosanne Kent, SWC director, she expressed their efforts to provide increased access to counselling. Khokhar shared that he hoped those responsible for the finances of SWC continue to help them build their drop-in counselling services.

“I'm viewing it, as in my opinion, that we're seeing [the] Student Wellness Center provide more support towards individuals who have any mental health illnesses or are going through any crisis so that they don't reach the point of panic attacks or intense thoughts of suicide. [This] tends to be when we're called,” said Khokhar.

The Silhouette was able to recently follow up with two of the undergraduate students we spoke to earlier in the year.

Allen expressed that she actually had to switch doctors this past year. She was greatly appreciative of the effort that the SWC took to ensure the transition was smooth internally and that her care continued without any issues.

Furthermore, she shared that since the last time she spoke with The Silhouette, she had come to terms with the unchangeable chronic aspects of her mental health conditions. While that process had been difficult, the SWC's treatment provided her with a sense of self. She shared that as she prepares for graduation, the SWC has effectively helped her begin to plan the transfer of her medical care.

"Sometimes, my [mental health] makes me feel like I am completely out of control. It is nice to get a degree of control back through the autonomy and respect I’m given as a patient at the SWC. Although I’ll lose access to the SWC shortly after I graduate this year, I feel empowered to advocate for myself and my needs," said Allen in an email statement to the Silhouette.

Conversely, Ali's follow-up statement expressed that she believed the SWC does not significantly recognize the chronic treatment of mental health. She wishes that cultural aspects of mental health presentation were more clearly acknowledged.

"I think they should improve how they engage in actual sessions to take note of cultural differences present in how [mental health] symptoms arise," said Ali in an email statement to The Silhouette.

Overall, students who have used the counselling services have a deep appreciation for the SWC and any suggestions for improvement merely stem from their personal experiences with the center.

If you would like to share your pwn experiences with the SWC, the centre is asking those who have used the service in the past twelve months to share their experiences anonymously.