Lindner adds new embedded counselor to support students
LaSondra Wayne will provide mental health services, drive awareness
The Carl H. Lindner College of Business welcomed LaSondra Wayne, PsyD, as the new embedded counselor serving Lindner students at the beginning of September. Wayne, who is a staff member with UC’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), will provide onsite counseling services to students.
Wayne's career has spanned many facets of mental health care, including in-patient, outpatient and residential programs and private practice. Having previously interned with CAPS while earning her degree, Wayne is familiar with its trauma-informed care approach, something she is deeply passionate about.
As mental health continues to be a national crisis on college campuses, Wayne’s addition indicates one way Lindner is prepared to tackle the issue head-on. Wayne sees her position as multifold: supporting students directly with counseling services and advocate for greater mental health awareness throughout the Lindner community.
“I think part of addressing the mental health crisis is prevention and education. And it’s destigmatizing help-seeking, not just among students, but making staff and faculty aware also,” said Wayne. “My role is not just doing therapy, but it's also outreach and being a supportive person for staff so that I can help them help students get the support that they need.”
Led by Lindner’s Mental Health Champions, a group of Lindner faculty and staff who have completed UC’s Mental Health Champion training and drive mental health-related initiatives in the college, Wayne’s addition has been a year in the making.
“Having Dr. Wayne embedded here in Lindner helps ensure that our students have an additional resource on their academic journey to being a business problem solver,” said Suzanne Masterson, PhD, associate dean of faculty, research and Lindner culture and professor of management, who helped spearhead the effort to embed a counselor in Lindner. “CAPS is a terrific resource overall, and we couldn’t be more excited to have our dedicated counselor, Dr. Wayne, to help us proactively think about Lindner student needs and to support students when those needs arise.”
As Lindner strives to empower business problem solvers to tackle the world’s challenges, Wayne emphasizes how a focus on mental health and wellness will only strengthen students’ ability to lead.
“I think that it's important to help students understand that effective problem solvers learn how to put the mask on themselves first,” said Wayne. “You have to be mentally and emotionally stable to be able to not only solve problems, but to be innovative. I think for an effective problem solver, it's ideal that you're at your optimal best.”
Students can use me as a resource for talking through things. They can come and have someone to talk to about anything where they're not being judged, they're not being graded, and they're not being evaluated in any way. I'm hoping that they can come be their authentic selves, explore who they are and be accepted for who they are.
LaSondra Wayne, PsyD, embedded clinician to Lindner College of Business
In addition to Lindner’s dedication to leadership development, inclusive excellence and mental health advocacy, Wayne was also attracted to the uniqueness of UC’s embedded counselor model. The Embedded Counselor Program is a university-wide initiative with clinicians currently embedded in many other colleges across UC’s footprint.
“The Embedded Counselor Program delivers mental health support to students within their college, while also paying attention to the impact of a supportive academic environment on student success,” said Tara Scarborough, PsyD, executive director of health and wellness, Division of Student Affairs, and director of CAPS. “Dr. LaSondra Wayne is the ninth embedded counselor to join the CAPS Team, and we currently have CAPS embedded counselors in 11 colleges. The implementation of this program conveys that as a community, UC cares about the well-being and success of our students.”
Wayne’s goal is to help change the culture surrounding mental health at Lindner and beyond. She hopes that by working with all members of Lindner’s community, she can normalize help-seeking, to everyone’s benefit. For students, Wayne hopes they will come to see her as a sounding board for a variety of issues they may be facing.
“Students can use me as a resource for talking through things. They can come and have someone to talk to about anything where they're not being judged, they're not being graded, and they're not being evaluated in any way,” said Wayne. “I'm hoping that they can come be their authentic selves, explore who they are and be accepted for who they are.”
Featured image at top: Students study in the Lindner Hall atrium. Photo by Lauren Meisberger.
Empowering business problem solvers
At the Carl H. Lindner College of Business, we fuel professional growth through our distinctive combination of academic and hands-on experiences: our problem-solving mindset, cooperative education, flexible pathways, inclusive community and vibrant, urban setting. Place, age or stage — students from a diversity of backgrounds become problem solvers at Lindner.
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