Introduction to the Special Section1

Theory is usually given short shrift in the literature geared towards college mental health professionals. Pragmatic writings on how to deal with various problems and crises tend to be favored instead—and arguably for good reason. In a recent national survey of university counseling center directors (Gallagher, 2010), 91% reported that the number of students with severe psychological problems continues to climb. Tragedies involving shooting rampages by college students, such as those that have taken place at Columbine, Colorado, Virginia Tech, and most recently, Tucson, Arizona, occur with shocking frequency, raising questions about the ability of university counseling centers to monitor unstable students and prevent harm. Media coverage of campus suicides and overextended counseling center staff (Gabriel, 2010) has also raised awareness of the fact that outreach and triage are crucial to the functioning of university mental health centers.

It is, nonetheless, a wonder how little is written in the psychoanalytic literature about working with college students. The one book devoted to the topic (May 1988) was published almost a quarter century ago. Recent books on college mental health tend to be edited works in which material is organized by topic such as substance abuse or eating disorders (e.g., Grayson & Meilman, 2006), or solution-focused books written for the parent or layperson (e.g., Kadison & DiGeronimo, 2004). A few articles have been published in psychoanalytic journals recently (e.g., Hart, 2003; Kline, 2006), but peer-reviewed journals of the university mental health profession rarely publish psychoanalytically oriented articles. This dearth may reflect a widespread falling out of favor of psychoanalytic thought among mental health professionals. It is more likely, however, to be due to the fact that psychodynamic or psychoanalytic treatment is generally thought of as a long-term modality, whereas college counseling usually is based on a short-term model.