“At the start of my sophomore year, a friend and I both decided to go to Yale Health for therapy. During my intake appointment, one of the questions asked was if I wanted a therapist of color and I said yes. To me, as a Black student, this felt important. Read more…
It took a total of 7 months of self-advocacy to be able to see a therapist at Yale. I started in August, and wasn’t seen until February. It took me going to Yale Health in person to demand care in order to get an appointment, even though I was supposed Read more…
Being from a family of Middle Eastern refugees has always been a foundational part of my identity. But, when I sought out mental health services at the beginning of my first year and I was asked if I had any preferences, I didn’t ask to have a therapist who was Read more…
As a FroCo and Peer Liaison, I often felt conflicted recommending YMHC to my first years, knowing that they would likely encounter large wait times and potentially be placed with a professional who was dismissive or culturally uninformed. Although wait times can potentially be decreased through contact with the dean, Read more…
Yale’s insistence on maintaining the Student Income Contribution directly harms it’s low-income students of color. Being a Black womxn at Yale already comes with the burdens of existing as a minority at a predominantly white institution. On top of that, I must also grapple with the racial trauma that is Read more…
Hearing about wait times and the fact that you sometimes had to wait so long deterred me from reaching out. When I really needed it, I thought, “Why spend so much time trying to get help when it’ll take so long for it to happen?” I didn’t get help until Read more…
In my first-year at Yale, I struggled with alcohol dependency due to my rising depression. Through the process of getting counseling that first-year, I was met with unpleasant demands, counselors who didn’t seem to relate or understand what I was going through, and a lack of communication. This led me Read more…
When I got home from Yale in March, I immediately had my access to gender affirming therapy for my transition taken away, and my healthcare was back under the control of my parents who never supported my transition to begin with. When I got home, I lost the typical supportive Read more…
Recently, I was assigned a new psychiatrist. My former psychiatrist had asked if I would prefer my new one to be Asian or white; I said Asian. Even so, I ended up with a white woman who asked me to explain (read: prove) to her how race has affected my Read more…
In my first two years at Yale, I dealt with a lot of anxiety about not being as smart or as talented as everyone else. This feeling of inadequacy negatively impacted all areas of my life. I thought about using Yale Mental Health services, but I had heard so many Read more…