February 6, 2016
Natalie Keepers’s emotional travails — and her claim in court Thursday that a Virginia Tech counselor told her that she “no longer needed therapy” in December, less than two months before the planned murder of a 13-year old girl whom she had never met— have once again put the university’s mental health services at the center of a grisly criminal case.
IHPI member Daniel Eisenberg, an associate professor of health management and policy at U-M, said many colleges are training faculty advisers, residential assistants and others known as “gatekeepers” on how to spot students who might need help and provide them with referrals.
Early and effective treatment can prevent tragedies such as suicide or simply make the difference between whether a student stays in school or drops out.