As a professor, every day you experience a TMI moment. Or four. Students tell us things they haven't yet told their friends or parents.
Like it or not, you're going to be the recipient of a lot more information and emotion than you probably want. Some situations don't require much of a response. For example, when students inform me that they have a bladder infection, I really don't need to add much to the conversation.
But what about if a student confides that she is pregnant? Or getting an abortion? Or has been assaulted?
What do you do if a student loses a parent? If a student has a manic episode in lab? If a student has a psychotic break in your classroom? If a student is suicidal?
What if a student comes to class belligerently drunk? Or is disruptive to other students in class? Or is verbally abusive towards you during a lecture?
I've experienced the majority of these in my relatively short teaching career. While you can't prepare for every possible teaching or student scenario, a certain amount of preparation and anticipation can go a long way. Training in proper ways to deal with these situations can go a long way. Just knowing what office or department to call helps, too.
I've had a lot of training in crisis management. I have participated in numerous training sessions on how to handle some of the situations I've mentioned above. At my current institution, very little training if offered on how to deal with problem or troubled students.
I'm wondering if this is true across the board. Have you received training in how to deal with students who approach you will some of the above issues? Or do you think profs don't deal with these issues? Or that we have to?
9 comments:
I think a little training can be a dangerous thing if the trainee then goes on to considers him or herself a qualified counselor. However, I do think a professor should know who to contact or who to refer a student too. Obviously the students are not using the correct services for whatever reason, and the younger ones may not have realized the distinction between a school teacher and a professor or how the relationship has changed from child-adult to adult-adult. I think students should receive this kind of information/training too so that they can refer a depressed roommate or friend before he or she gets to the stage where they are crying in class.
I do not think it is appropriate for a professor to take on the role of counselor. No sane professor would attempt to diagnose and treat a bladder infection, yet in many respects a mental or life-crisis situation is even more dangerous.
I believe that extensions of deadlines and other allowance should only granted when an excuse is backed up by a relevant medical or counseling professional (details would not need to be revealed). This deters frauds, but more importantly it encourages students to seek out the appropriate help they need.
I also think that some people are more naturally inviting than others when it comes to potential agony aunts. Mean and grumpy old professor probably do not get so many students crying to them..just crying because of them!
I think we all need some crisis training. Like you, I've been in a lab with a suicidal student, with a fellow grad student with other mental health issues, and taught classes with an extremely manipulative-sometimes-abusive student.
@Dr Girlfriend: knowing who to refer these students to isn't enough simply because many times the initial response is "I don't need a shrink".
I'm not saying that an advisor/other lab people should substitute for a counsellor, but having enough crisis training to be able to deal with what is happening now - because a manic or psychotic episode happening in the lab, or someone threatening suicide NOW cannot be stopped by telling someone to talk to a counsellor.
Having some basic training allows you to know what questions to ask, what to say to effectively intervene in a crisis, some confidence in one's ability to deal with these situations and who to contact for support for the student (and for oneself after the crisis has resolved).
I got crisis intervention training as part of my former volunteer job. I am so glad I did.
YES the students need to see a qualified counselor. But sometimes they won't do so until someone they trust tells them they really should do it.
@NatC: The people who say they don't a shrink usually don't think they need your help, either. My successes at getting people to professional help have all been with people who start out saying they just need a friend to talk to...someone who they know will listen. Until they started talking to me, it didn't "click" in their mind how serious the problem was.
I agree with NatC. I understand your concern, Dr. G., that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. But I think that most people who are trained in first aid and CPR don’t go around believing that they are full-fledged doctors now.
And unlikelygrad, when students approach a professor about these issues it is usually *because* they tend to see the prof as not just a prof but almost like a friend that they can talk to. As a professor, one can discourage this type of behavior by being rather cold and formal to your students all the time. But who really wants to live life this way?
Sheeeeeeeet. I find myslef infinitely grateful that no one has come to ask me about bladder infections or pregnancy, and admiring all who, like UR, can deal with questions like these. I have had a few depressed or burnt-out students though... All I did was listen and encourage them to talk to someone and try to take care of themselves.
I think some training would likely not hurt, but I am not sure who would provide it (at least at my Uni) or how to tailor a course for crisis management for faculty...
Overall, a great post, UR! Gave me lots to think about -- thanks!
Our college has a part-time mental health professional on our staff. We have annual reminders of what we should look out for, although that does not keep the faculty from asking just what our liability is, since we were not trained nor hired to do mental health triage.
As for some of your other questions, the answer is quite simple: we push a button that summons one or more campus security personnel or police to our classroom if we can't handle it ourselves or need backup. I am told that it worked great this past week when .... a student showed up drunk to class.
We were told to call the trained professionals and/or refer students there for any problems. I have not yet encountered a crisis situation as a TT prof, although I was threatened by a student in a lab once (and had to have him removed from my section, since I was alone in the lab with 24 students, and did not feel safe having him in there). Fortunately, the student left when I said I was going to call security, and the course professor handled the rest. I don't know what actually happened, other than he was no longer in my section.
lkj
@UR (or anyone else that’s inclined to answer): I don’t mean to derail the conversation, but I’m also interested in the flip side of the TMI question, especially w.r.t. the advisor-advisee relationship. Let’s say that one of your students is going through one of these major life crises – divorce, death/illness of a parent, etc. Suppose that this affects their productivity in the lab but doesn’t ground it to a halt. Would you expect your student to approach you and explain the reason for their diminished output? If they didn’t, under what conditions would you approach them? And if you later learned that one of your students had gone through something like this while in your lab but never said anything to you about it, would you feel bad?
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