Counseling center hires two

The College Counseling Center has hired two new full-time staff members. Diane Britt and Harry Pepper were hired in November and began work in January.

They are of a self-proclaimed new breed of counselors who specialize in group therapy.

The counselors are excited about new programs affiliated with the counseling center. They said they are planning to expand the group therapy portion of the center, saying that 20 percent of Oberlin students use the counseling center for individual help but not even 1 percent are involved in the groups.

"I think that will change," Britt said.

Pepper said the center is involving itself in events and groups around campus that traditionally were not involved with the counseling center.

"A lot of this for me is reaching out to people," Britt said. "We are re-thinking what the role of the counseling center is."

The pair said they want counseling programs on the college radio station and in Oberlin Online. They hope to have a Dear Abby type of question page someday to field general questions from the student body.

Pepper said the new directions of the counseling center are being influenced by student input. Some of the changes that the two are formulating stem from their past experiences. Pepper said he hopes to start a Lesbian Gay Bisexual (LGB) support group.

"I think it would be a valuable resource at Oberlin," Pepper said. He also said he wants to start support groups for international students and first generation college students.

Britt said the group therapy approach is an important one.

"Certain things happen in groups that don't happen in individual therapy," Britt said. "They can try out new ways of being in a group situation...that's really valuable."

She cautioned, however, that group therapy would not soon become the primary means of counseling at Oberlin.

"Sometimes people are ready for a group and sometime they are not," Britt said.

"People are naturally nervous about this, but the people involved want to create an environment of safety."

Britt and Pepper were excited with their new positions. They chose to work at Oberlin partly because of its open nature.

"I think Oberlin's commitment to ideas of diversity really appealed to me," Pepper said.

Pepper attempted to start a LGB support line earlier this year, but nobody responded to their advertisements.

"People say they are interested in the groups but people then don't participate. I certainly feel that it can be a real beneficial support," Pepper said.

Britt and Pepper replaced psychologists Mary Anderson-Miller and Britt Friedman who left last year.