Santa Barbara City College Offering Free Mental Health Counseling to Extended Learning Students

College can come with mental roadblocks, whether you’re a young adult taking classes for the first time or a lifelong learner going back to school. 

For the older adults who may be struggling, Santa Barbara City College’s School of Extended Learning is now offering free, one-on-one mental health counseling for the first time ever.   

Their Schott and Wake campuses will be “one-stop shops” for students to take classes and get counseling, said Monica Campbell, Director of SBCC’s School of Extended Learning (SEL).

The school’s Cliff campus already had “really robust” student support services, but for non-credit students at SEL, it was “a little bit difficult to access,” she said. Usually, SEL students would be referred out to other community organizations for counseling.  

“This is pretty big because a lot of our students have transportation issues, or they ride their bike, or take the bus,” Campbell continued. “So it’s important to offer as many wraparound services as we can on our campuses.” 

These new counseling services, which are already in effect, will help students cope and manage stress, as well as provide general emotional support for whatever is weighing on them.

“We’ve noticed over the past few years just how difficult their personal life might be,” Campbell said.

Some students have traveled from other countries to Santa Barbara without their family to take English classes or get their GED. Career advisors reported that students were disclosing information that would be more well-suited for a session with a mental health counselor. “This is in response to that,” Campbell said.

“Students may come here without a lot of support,” Campbell said. “So this becomes their home base. This is their community.” 

There’s no limits to sessions, no questions about insurance, and no cost — SEL itself is completely tuition-free. The only requirement is that participants be enrolled in a class. With about 4,500 SEL students, the school’s largest student population is older adults, including retirees looking for enrichment.

“I come to work and there’s some older students that are in the parking lot doing their tai chi, and they’re in their 90s,” Campbell said. “It’s just so cool.”

SBCC has also hired two new bilingual counselors, one for each campus, Campbell said. It’s funded through a grant provided to SBCC’s Mental Health and Counseling Department. 

Students can access these services by visiting the office adjacent to the Welcome Center on each campus.

“The SBCC Mental Health Counseling Department is excited to collaborate with the School of Extended Learning to provide much needed mental health services to our noncredit students,” said Lacey Peters, SBCC Mental Health Counselor, LMFT.

SEL students can make an appointment by calling SEL Mental Health Counseling at (805) 898-8190, or by emailing selmentalhealthcounseling@pipeline.sbcc.edu.