Student Health Services now offers an online therapy program, Therapist Assisted Online, to improve student mental health care.

Therapist Assisted Online (TAO), which launched in 2017, is a program designed to provide students with a more accessible and less time-intensive therapy option. According to TAO creator Dr. Sherry Benton, the program features a variety of activities to teach students skills to handle mental health problems.

Nathalie Austin | Student Life

The Habif Health & Wellness Center recently introduced an online therapy services program called Therapist Assisted Online (TAO). Students can seek other services at Habif Health & Wellness Center located on the South 40.

“TAO offers interactive, engaging and entertaining videos which teach behavioral health literacy and coping skills,” Benton wrote in an email to Student Life.

Assistant Director of Mental Health Outreach and Programming Jordan Worthington says that the program was designed as a response to increased demand for college mental health services.

“The importance of having a program like TAO is that there is a national trend…of an increase in demand for services, especially in individual counseling,” Worthington said. “And just like every other college and university across the country, we are not going to be able to hire enough counselors for everyone.”

An online program counteracts the challenges of hiring more counselors. Freshman Katie McGilvery said that she believes students will benefit from having more options to work on their mental health.

“I think [SHS] never has enough slots and it can be hard to get an appointment,” McGilvery said. “We live in a digital age and having a way students can work on their mental health in a private, digital setting is really important.”

According to Benton, TAO is a good resource for college students who may not have time in their schedule for a more intensive therapy option.

“TAO was created to fit a stressed student’s lifestyle that’s overloaded with classes, homework, exams all while trying to balance a social life,” Benton wrote. “Typically, a pathway can be completed within six to nine weeks when committing about fifteen minutes a day.”

Additionally, Benton said, the program works well for students who want to focus on a specific issue as students can customize TAO for specific purposes.

“If focused problems unexpectedly surface, such as anxiety and stress, you can always access individual modules to reinforce what you have learned,” Benton said.

Worthington explained that the program works well for students, regardless of whether or not they’re working with a therapist.

“It’s important to know that there are two different ways to use it: one can be in conjunction with your therapist at Habif, and another can be just on your own,” Worthington said. “It doesn’t have to be the only way to access mental health care; it could be a complement to what you’re already doing.”

The program’s flexibility allows TAO to benefit students regardless of the state of their mental health.

“People have differences in levels of severity of their mental health so having a program like this where students…can work through symptoms of anxiety and depression before things get into crisis mode and can learn to do this on their own, I think it’s very useful,” Worthington said.