When it comes to mental health resources at the University of Miami, numbers to call, sexual assault hotlines, therapy appointments and other resources aren’t hard to find.
On paper, UM is doing exactly what it should to provide students with mental health outlets.
But this support needs to extend beyond a counseling building and a website by building a culture where students feel encouraged to reach out, comfortable opening up and supported by University faculty.
In its mission statement, the University of Miami Counseling Center states that it “provides a wide array of effective and quality multi-disciplinary psychological services. Respecting diversity and all cultural identities, we empower students to realize their goals for personal and emotional development.”
Transitioning to college can already be a huge struggle for first-year students, especially those coming from out of state. For myself, navigating the culture shock while also going through a separate mental health crisis led me to go home for a week to regroup my thoughts and feelings.
When I went to UM’s Counseling Center, I was met with a lack of empathy over the phone about my absences and situation. I felt like I was being tossed between offices and phone lines, and I can imagine students facing similar situations feel the same.
A junior who wishes to remain unnamed described a similar experience with the Counseling Center. When she tried to change her therapist because she wanted a counselor who would speak and contribute more during sessions, the individual helping her blamed her instead.
She was told, “Therapists aren’t supposed to tell you what to do, you’re supposed to do that yourself.”
Students already facing mental health issues are caused further stress by the Center’s lack of support, being dismissed when asking for help and the limited access to appointments.
Instances like these are part of why students choose to fight their battles on their own and make me question whether the dedication to supporting students going through mental health issues goes beyond its surface advertisements.
More broadly, mental health continues to be an ongoing issue for many students across colleges in the United States. In 2024-2025, the University of Michigan conducted a study across 135 U.S. colleges and universities, including UM.
The survey gathered 84,000 responses and revealed that 37% of surveyed students deal with some form of depression and 33% deal with anxiety.
It also collected data on students’ experiences with university resources.
Despite students typically having knowledge of mental health resources on campus, it is rare for them to ask for help from their Universities. The data showed that seeking help from faculty, professors, staff members or support groups is incredibly uncommon.
To an extent, the value of going to a University is limited if students don’t feel the University’s staff are on their side.
Freshman Gloria Gilmore faced this problem when approaching advisors and teachers for help, and the results were mixed.
“Some that I’ve had that aren’t my teachers but are advisors are very sweet and understand and help,” Gilmore said. “But some teachers, I think maybe they haven’t had a kid before. They haven’t had a child to understand the struggles or they haven’t experienced someone with mental health, so it’s kind of awkward for them. You don’t get the message you need sometimes.”
UM students deserve help more often than “sometimes.”
Training faculty and staff to better recognize and respond to students’ struggles — and teaching them how to engage appropriately — would make a big difference.
Additionally, building connections between various offices at UM would help the University streamline the process of getting students the help they need as soon as possible, instead of leaving them feeling bounced between offices.
Students at UM have endless opportunities to succeed, build friendships and enjoy four years in an amazing city at an amazing school. However, there is still room to improve proper mental health care for students.