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Sometimes just a little timely encouragement can make a difference. That’s the thinking behind the ������Ƶapp Counseling Center’s “affirmations board,” from which students choose positive messages of courage, self-compassion, hope, or strength while they wait for appointments.

“Students have really appreciated the affirmations board” said Dr. Rob Orf, the center’s third and current director at a festive fiftieth anniversary celebration on August 26, 2024. So naturally the board was on hand to benefit the overflow Heritage Commons crowd of past and present staff, community partners, and professional peers who gathered to hail the center’s achievements.

Finding ways large and small to do what’s best for the Plymouth State community has been a constant over five decades of service. Today’s Counseling Center started in 1974 with a single psychological counselor, Professor Emeritus Dr. Michael Fischler, in a tiny space in the HUB. He gave it a broad and ambitious title—the Counseling and Human Relations Center—with the goal, he explained, “Of changing the hearts of our institutional culture.”

Fischler’s anniversary remarks were especially poignant as he amusingly recounted his life journey, from 24-year-old job applicant welcomed into the Plymouth State College fold to his pride in today’s center and its comprehensive services. His numerous contributions also included founding of Plymouth State’s first support groups for Black and LGBTQ students.

The center currently fields a staff of 10, including counselors, interns, and support staff, and is dedicated to enhancing the psychosocial development of each ������Ƶapp student. That is a tall order, given the increasing severity and complexity of mental health presentations. It sees those with suicidal and homicidal risks, potentially life-threatening disorders, history of self-harm and complex trauma, and significant poverty, among other serious issues.

Dr. Bob Hlasny, the center’s second director, put the life-changing work into perspective. “It is heartening and most meaningful to think about the hundreds, no thousands, of students we have helped and supported through the Counseling Center’s 50 years, with countless personal stories of their healing, improved functioning and relationships, new coping skills, deeper levels of self-awareness and insight, higher levels of academic achievement, and personal fulfillment and success.”

“The Counseling Center’s work is central not to only students’ health but to the well-being of our institution overall,” noted Provost Nate Bowditch. “In the most recent survey, an incredible 100 percent of students said they were satisfied with the quality of their counseling and regard the center as an important part of the University. A high percentage also said that counseling was important in their continued enrollment at PSU, versus withdrawing, transferring, or potentially failing.”

On a more fundamental level, both Orf and Fischler characterized the center as a source of light and hope. “I often refer to the Counseling Center as a lighthouse for students and the community during challenging and dark times,” said Orf.  “After the community has experienced painful losses, we have offered healing and hope through natural grieving.  Over the years, when students of diverse populations have expressed fears of their rights being threatened, we have been there to validate their experiences and offer hope for a brighter tomorrow.”

Fischler shared the wisdom of Helen Keller, who said, “There’s no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a hand to someone in the dark.” He added, “This describes well why our center exists—to be that thankful light where our hands are extended to all during their moments of darkness.”