Did you know April is Counseling Awareness Month? Meet Stephanie Orwick, NEOMED’s assistant director of Counseling Services!
What led you to a career in counseling?
I was actually halfway through an undergrad degree in pre-law when I realized law is very black and white, and I’m not a black and white person. I switched to psychology and later received my master’s degree in counseling from Kent State University. I really liked trauma counseling and it made a lot of sense for me, so I specialized in that for a while, then moved to higher education.
Tell us about your role as the assistant director of Counseling Services.
I oversee two main areas in Counseling Services. One is one-on-one counseling. I can work with students in a session on an outpatient basis. Part of my job is making sure there are appropriate referrals for students when they graduate from NEOMED or go to their rotation sites, when it might be difficult to come back to the University for a counseling session. It’s all about providing continuous care.
The second half of my job revolves around outreach, like mental health programming. Counseling Services offers programming related to suicide prevention, symptom prevention, coping skills, and even things like how to improve your relationships and how to improve your resiliency. We recognize that students are in very difficult situations, not only with school, but with finding jobs, family, friends, having a social life, and how to balance those things.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I really like clinical work and I really like the student population. The students have enough autonomy but they’re not so set in their ways; they’re still able to do some flexing. Their high intelligence is nice to work with, too, because they’re very thoughtful. I see a lot of successes because they are capable of reframing. It’s rewarding to see that.
What’s something people might not know about you?
I like running. I’m not very good at it, but I like it. I think it’s good to try something and not be successful at it. Running is a humbling experience for me. It makes you recognize that not everything is going to be easy. Some things you have to work at. For me, running is a nice reminder of that.
To make an appointment with Counseling Services, call 330-325-6757, or email counseling@neomed.edu.