Health Edition Mental
November 4, 2021
PAGE 8
Get to know your counselors The Springfield College Counseling Center is full of professionals who are dedicated and passionate about helping students get through everyday struggles.
__ By Collin Atwood __ @collinatwood17
The life of a college student is stressful enough, but there is no doubt that everyone’s stress levels have gone up since March of 2020. College students, especially, have had to deal with numerous changes in their lives. Online learning, quarantine housing and weekly testing were all new aspects to college that nobody was prepared for. Now that the college lifestyle is somewhat normal again, people are still getting used to the intensity and speed of a normal routine. It’s important that these students have someone to go to when they feel like the stress of college is just too much. Fortunately for the Springfield College community, the Counseling Center on campus is full of counselors who are eager to assist students in processing their everyday problems. “To have someone come into my office and to talk about the most intimate parts of their life and to be privileged to be a part of that is
pretty incredible,” said Paige Getchell, a psychologist at the Springfield College Counseling Center. It didn’t take long for Getchell to realize that she wanted to be a counselor, and help people through their problems. Sharing stories has always been a big part of her family culture. Through those years of sharing and listening to stories, Getchell’s love grew for hearing how people’s life experiences have affected them. “I always really just enjoyed talking to people and was really interested in people’s stories,” said Getchell. “Everyone has a very unique, interesting story, and different perspective.” This passion for listening to others talk about their life led Getchell to attend Roanoke College where she majored in psychology and minored in sociology. She attended graduate school at Loyola University and that’s where her specific interest in counseling adults
(Photo courtesy of the Springfield College Counseling Center)
originated. “While I was there, I really knew that I wanted to work with adults,” Gretchell said. “I had experience working at some outpatient settings, working with different communities [like] the LGBTQ+ community - I worked with individuals who were diagnosed with HIV or facing economic oppression.” After completing her internship and postdoctoral at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst,
she was offered a job at Springfield College. It was the tight-knit community and amazing staff at Springfield that interested Getchell. The small community at Springfield makes it easier for her to connect with the students and work with them in a long-term way. “There’s just a sense of community here and everyone... we’re all very different, but there’s a sense of family that was really welcoming,” she said. Family is exactly
what gets Getchell through her tough days. After a long day of helping students through the problems that life brings, she could use a little therapeutic time herself. When she’s not at work, she loves spending time with her daughter and dog named Bubba. In her six years at Springfield, Getchell has been a tremendous resource for many students on campus. Her counseling and pure joy in helping others has been the therapy that
