(From left, Karen Blakeley, Dr. Hanna Im, Joel Gaffney and Dr. Allyson Tanouye.)
By Staff Reports
(Oahu)– UH Mānoa’s Counselor-in-Residence (CIR) program – in which five counselors live in Student Housing in order to provide emergency and immediate counseling services to Student Housing residents and staff – has won a Region VI Innovative Program Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA).
The CIR program is a collaboration between the UH Mānoa Counseling and Student Development Center (CSDC) and UHM Student Housing.
Under the program, five counselors live and work in Student Housing residences on campus. This results in their availability to Student Housing residents with on-site counseling for situations needing immediate response when the CSDC is closed from 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. on weekdays, and 24 hours a day on weekends and holidays. The CIRs provide crisis intervention to student residents, and referral services, consultation, training, workshops and seminars to Student Housing staff.
CIR team members rotate in serving as the primary on-call counselor, and are also back-ups for larger-scale needs. Because the counselors live in the student residences, they are able to respond quickly to and provide effective follow-up for students dealing with personal stressors such as deaths or injuries, suicidal thoughts or acute stress.
Accepting the award at the 2016 Western Regional Conference in Seattle, Washington, were CSDC Director Dr. Allyson Tanouye, Staff Therapist/Counselor-in-
The CSDC provides counseling and testing services, workshops, consultation and training programs for the UH Mānoa community and has been housed under the Division of Student Affairs for since 1948. Dr. Tanouye has served as director of the CSDC for the past 22 years and has coordinated the CIR program for 225 years.
“It is an honor to have the Counselor-in-Residence program recognized at the national level,” said Dr. Tanouye. “The crises intervention that our counselors-in-residence provide to residents is invaluable to the academic, personal and social success of our students.”
Added Interim Vice Chancellor for Students Dr. Lori Ideta, “Dr. Tanouye and her team are undoubtedly committed to the mental health and wellness needs of our students. They often operate as behind-the-scenes heroes, especially during times of crisis. They have dedicated their lives to helping thousands of our students and residents in providing counseling, consultation, and support during difficult and challenging times.
NASPA is the leading association for the advancement of the student affairs profession. It consists of over 15,000 members in all 50 states, 25 countries, and eight U.S. territories. Its Western Regional Conference gathers student affairs professionals from Arizona, California, Hawai‘i, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Australia, China, Guahan (Guam), Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.
For more information about the Counselor-in-Residence program, see http://manoa.hawaii.edu/
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