Life Management Counselors

April 6, 2020
Author: Michelle Rosenbalm
Life Management counseling

In 2019, The University of Arizona’s Student Retention and Wellness department, a unit within Student Success and Retention Innovation (SSRI), implemented a new initiative to offer immediate counseling services for our undergraduate student population. Within this new model, Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs) were onboarded into the role of Life Management Counselors (LMCs). LMCs are unique as they are embedded within student support services and/or colleges to serve as internal mental health and wellness consultants, in addition to providing direct counseling support for students. This unique model allows our LMC’s to address the specific needs of their units through wellness support, training and consultation services, in addition to increasing access for mental health services to our students.  

As LMCs, we provide no-cost, short-term, confidential counseling services to our undergraduate students. LMCs form a professional therapeutic relationship to help students sort through emotional or mental stressors. LMCs aim to reduce the stigma regarding students seeking mental health care by normalizing the need to focus on our mental health, and overall wellness. LMCs encourage students to talk about their experiences to gain better understanding of their mood, feelings, behaviors, and ways of thinking. Together, we identify skills and strategies to gain insight, manage roadblocks, stressors and other concerns.

We currently have four LMCs supporting the following student support services and/or colleges:

  • Ryan Daily - College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS)
  • Michelle Rosenbalm - The A Center (undeclared, pre-health and pre-law)
  • Melissa Rosinki - Eller College of Management
  • Jenny Simon - Thrive Center

This year our team will also be facilitating Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training to our university community. Our team has surveyed our individual units’ needs, along with the needs of the university community, and MHFA training continues to be a priority for many. If you are not familiar with MHFA, it is an internationally known training program that prepares attendees to recognize risk factors, signs and symptoms of mental health distress. Individuals who complete the training can aide those in distress, gain additional mental health insight and be knowledgeable about campus and local resources.

While our initiative is new, we are excited to play a key role in increasing mental health services for our university community. For more information about our team and current initiatives, please visit our website or email us at wellness.arizona.edu.