Bridging the Gap: Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Underrepresented Collegiate Students at Psychology Training Clinics

Mental health treatment utilization on college campuses remains disproportionately low among underrepresented (UR) students (i.e., raciallethnic minorities, first-generation college students, and students from low-income families). Additionally, UR students report that factors including stigma, long wait times, and costs are barriers to accessing treatment. Given these trends, new methods to bolster the utilization of counseling services among UR college students are needed. Concurrently, there is a call for psychology training programs to increase their efforts in preparing health service psychologists to work with culturally diverse populations including UR students. Psychology training clinics may be an additional resource on campuses that can be useful in meeting both of these needs. We present a program evaluation of 4-year partnership between a counseling psychology department training clinic and an academic division serving UR students at a large Midwestern university. Two quantitative metrics, including service utilization hours by UR students (2,020) and direct service hours accrued by clinical trainees (1.266), highlight the benefits of the partnership. A social justice framework and implications for training programs interested in developing similar partnerships are discussed.