Abstract:

Worldwide there is concern about the mental health of university students (Duffy et al., 2019; Liu et al., 2019). In the context of South Africa, the mental health of engineering university students has implications for their academic success as well as their ability to be mentally well-adjusted in their role as leaders. The past few decades has seen an increase in the presentation of mental health concerns in our engineering students at the University of Cape Town’s Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment. The response to this has been an offering of a short-term psychotherapeutic service to students registered for the four-year engineering and built environment degree. Passing Mathematics in first and second year, a pre-requisite to many engineering courses, has proven to be exceptionally challenging for many students. Funding was obtained for a three-year cycle for any students registered for Mathematics courses. Five clinical and counselling psychologists offered online and/or in person therapy to students requesting an appointment. In order to determine the efficacy of the psychotherapy offered, a largely qualitative evaluation was conducted at the end of each year of the three-year cycle. All students who entered into a therapeutic engagement with a psychologist, were invited to complete an anonymous reflective evaluation, critically assessing the service they received. The survey comprised basic demographic information and qualitative questions (for example, their therapeutic experience, the impact of their therapy on their well-being or academic performance, suggestions to improve the service). In addition to the survey, each psychologist completed a spreadsheet outlining the primary and secondary diagnoses of the students, and referrals made for psychotropic medication. The most common presenting disorders were anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, adjustment difficulties, academic difficulties, bereavement, and relationship difficulties. The findings from the survey show an overwhelmingly positive experience of the therapeutic service delivered by the psychologists. The quality and skill of the psychologists were noted as well as their experience of feeling held and supported, with helpful advice and tools offered. Several students commented on their improved well-being and a significant impact on their academic performance. The findings show the pivotal role that experienced and committed psychologists play in providing a service which enables students to succeed. Suggestions to improve the service included requests for extended therapy sessions with follow-up after termination. This research relied heavily on self-report measures and together with the relatively low response rate from students, it is not possible to generalise the findings. Students who received a less than satisfactory therapeutic experience may not have responded to the survey, limiting our ability to improve the service offered, possibly considering alternative therapeutic modalities for example. Those students who chose to complete the survey suggest a successful therapeutic intervention where significant benefits were made not only to the academic performance of students but also to their overall well-being. The findings support the need for these services with skilled psychologists able to offer continuity of care over the years of the students’ degree programme.

Keywords:

Engineering, therapy, efficacy, adjustment.