Jamye Taylor: On Mental Wellness

LET'S TALK.

ASH'S NEW LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR DISCUSSES STRESS, THE PANDEMIC AND THE IMPORTANCE OF HER ROLE ON CAMPUS.

By: Atalya J. A few bad experiences with a school counselor in high school, and Jamye Taylor was determined to create change.

Taylor grew up in West Monroe, La. and graduated from Louisiana Tech in 2016 to become a Licensed Professional Counselor. Now, after five years of independent counseling, she can be found in her office--a small room toward the back of Alexandria Senior High’s library.

She eventually fell in love with professional counseling after meeting some professors who gave her insight into the field.

Taylor has experience counseling all age groups, but believes her strengths lie in helping young adults. Taylor says that the biggest obstacle she faces with teens in-session is a lack of trust, and that she combats this issue with creating an environment where her clients feel related to and not pressured or uncomfortable.

She brings a unique, holistic approach to her sessions that focuses less on medicine and more on “revealing the whole truth of a client’s situation”; missing pieces of a story, or points of view that may be overlooked. This happens often in adolescent patients, according to Taylor, as underlying issues tend to cloud the bigger picture.

One of these issues include stress. Stress these days is not uncommon to anyone with the uncertainty brought upon by COVID-19. Attempting to balance this with school, work, and home life causes anxiety in many teens.

There are a few ways to deal with this anxiety. Taylor’s first suggestion is to talk to a parent or seek the help of a professional. If these options aren’t ideal, then she suggests learning healthy coping mechanisms.

This could be a simple grounding technique, which involves identifying stress triggers and reducing the impact through a breathing exercise or an act of self-care, like taking a hot bath or lighting a favorite candle.

If school is the source of stress, then she suggests doing school work in chunks and taking small breaks to make it feel less overwhelming.

Taylor’s most important piece of advice, however, is to “know when to ask for help, and never be afraid to ask for it.” She plans on helping many more children and has proved herself to be an essential human resource.

STUDENTS CAN SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH MS. TAYLOR IF THEY FEEL THEY NEED EXTRA HELP MANAGING EMOTIONS OR BEHAVIOR.

ASH/CENTRIC 9