Category: Psychology

APA Applauds Supreme Court’s Decision to Uphold DACA Program

Experienced counselor and psychology professor from De Pere, WI, Father Jay Fostner serves as vice president for Mission and Student Affairs at St. Norbert College. He oversees a division with over 70 staff members and a budget of $9 million. Father Jay Fostner is a member of the American Psychology Association (APA).

The association, through its president Sandra Shullman, Ph.D., applauded the decision of the Supreme Court to uphold the Deferred Action Child Arrivals (DACA) program. APA is particularly grateful for this decision on behalf of approximately 27,000 DACA beneficiaries who are working as healthcare professionals in the US.

Shullman said that many of DACA beneficiaries have been displaced from their homes since their childhood days. Many of them lived with negative consequences physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively. Because of DACA, these beneficiaries have experienced stability while staying in the US, even as they work toward becoming US citizens. As an association of psychologists, APA expressed its commitment to the physical and mental health of all people, which was upheld by the Supreme Court decision.

DACA is an immigration program that started with former President Barack Obama. However, in consonance with President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, he asked the Supreme Court in September 2017 to terminate the program. At that time, about 700,000 immigrants are benefiting from the DACA program.

In the Supreme Court decision, which was penned by Chief Justice John Roberts, the termination of the DACA program was “arbitrary and capricious” and violated certain administrative procedures under federal laws. Because of the Supreme Court decision, hundreds of thousands of young immigrants will continue to receive working permits under the DACA program and will be protected from deportation.

Obstacles Facing Students When Seeking Mental Health Counseling

Having graduated with a PhD in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, Father Jay Fostner now works as the vice president of mission and student affairs at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin. Father Jay Fostner has worked at St. Norbert since 1997 and has helped hundreds of students over the years.

Mental health issues can be difficult for students to address effectively, in part due to some persistent barriers to seeking help. In a study published in the journal Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, researchers found that the three top barriers to help-seeking were denial, embarrassment, and a perception that the help-seeker would be labeled crazy.

This is consistent with barriers to help-seeking in the general population, and seems to show that stigmas associated with mental health continue to prevail upon students.

Students who are in denial that they need mental health treatment may not have the proper guidance to understand what constitutes a condition that needs treatment. In these cases, simple education initiatives can be extremely beneficial. To deal with the embarrassment and generalized stigma of mental disorders, however, much broader programs would likely be necessary.