The Role of Public Schools in Mental Health Support
By Natalie Ureno
As humans, we are shaped by our experiences, whether they are good or bad. We are conditioned by our society to act, process, and respond in certain ways that can impact us deeply. Navigating our experiences and emotions can be complex and nuanced, and since we are all different, we do not feel the same way others do.
Growing up, I was diagnosed with clinical depression at a young age. It was difficult for me to stay motivated, to keep up with the rest of my peers in school, and to survive on a daily basis. I felt as if I was not present and was constantly in a dissociative state throughout my K-12 education. As time passed, my parents noticed, and were deeply concerned for my wellbeing. Emotions were rarely discussed in our family, and it was a struggle for them to understand what I was going through or connect me with resources that would help me because they both had to work to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads. Eventually, I was connected with the resource I needed–therapy. However, this was not traditional therapy with a licensed therapist, it was at a free therapy clinic at our neighboring university, where graduate psychology students could use us as case study and to apply the theory that they had learned through their education journey.
My experience in the free therapy clinic was interesting. There was a lot of trial and error, as my (not licensed) therapist and I were still learning with and from each other, but I was able to break through and become deeply vulnerable and honest with this person. I was able to tell them about everything under the sun: my thoughts, fears, aspirations, problems at home and with my friends–literally everything. Then, one day, they graduated and left. I was crushed, heartbroken, and I was reminded that I was just part of a study and practice, and that left me without stability or consistency for quite some time. This impacted my perception of therapy and created long-lasting trust issues that I still struggle with.
This is a raw and honest example of one of the current challenges students from public schools face regarding their mental health. Most California public schools are overcrowded and underfunded, which impacts our school counselors greatly. They are required to take on more students, creating heavier caseloads and as a result, they are not at the capacity to provide equitable resources to each student. The state of someone’s mental health greatly impacts how they navigate life, and if they are a student, it impacts their performance and overall success within their education, thus affecting the trajectory of their future.
This is why it is important to reform Prop. 13. Public schools in California need more funding so that they are fully staffed and are able to create better working conditions for their faculty, so their main focus can be to focus on their students in order to provide them with the resources they need. Our students should be in a safe place to live and learn, as well as have the proper resources to navigate their emotions throughout their formative years. Not all families are able to afford therapy or the resources their child needs, and they cannot carry the brunt of the struggles of mental health alone without proper support.