- Mar 17, 2021
- 4 min read

Wellness: A Self-Care Calling

Wofford College's Director of Counseling and Accessibility Services, Perry Henson, talks inspiration for her career, college decorum, and the future of wellness services on a college campus.

This week's self-care spotlight featured a conversation with Wofford College's very own Perry Henson. Perry Henson's name is synonymous on campus for her capacity to advocate for the mental health needs of students, partly because she herself was once a Wofford student. Henson graduated from Wofford in 1996 with a Philosophy and English degree. She now serves as the college's Director of Counseling and Accessibility Services where she supports counseling services, raises mental health awareness through school events, and offers resources on seeking help and de-stigmatizing therapy. Through her own collegiate experience she was able to receive guidance on her vocation that led to supporting and fostering young adult minds.

At Wofford, Henson was influenced by many forces to enter the field of counseling and wellness. Although she has always had a passion for aiding others in their personal struggles, she also credits Dr. Carol Wilson, her academic advisor, for inspiring her to pursue her passions, giving her the confidence to excel in her field, and offering moral support. Having interacted with Dr. Wilson myself through a study abroad experience, I was so happy to hear of her impact on Henson, and was reminded of ways in which professors can facilitate growth in their students. Supplementary to mentor support, Henson also credits her involvement with Wofford's Bonner Scholar program to introducing her to the field of therapy. Bonner Scholars are given financial aid in exchange for a dedication to service in the community. Through this program, she was placed as a volunteer at a nonprofit therapy center in Spartanburg. This program further prompted her calling and reinforced her desire to help others through compassion, understanding, and clinical aid.

"The Bonner Scholars Program is based on the premise that young people care about others, and given the opportunity, will become active and involved in the local community. It is also based on the understanding that college students have a unique and important contribution to make to our society."

While not everyone can find the perfect volunteer program to spark their interest in their future vocation, I think that Henson's story has the potential to resonate with many students. People are one of the most underutilized resources at colleges. Universities are one of the few places in which a whole department of highly educated individuals sit ready to help you with your future plans. Rather than see professors as disconnected from your life, or as heiracherial leaders, professors instead can be compassionate and knowledgeable mentors providing insight and guidance into your future vocation.

The Now

In Perry Henson's classroom as a First Year Instructor, she has continued to implement the compassion and care she was shown nearly 20 years ago. Each class featured a strict self-care routine. Henson believes this consistency reinforces these tips so that students may feel inspired to adopt them outside of the classroom. These activities included journaling, meditating, mandala coloring, and rotating essential oils.

Outside of the classroom, Henson works to make strides to improve the morale and mental health of the collegiate community. This is especially dire in the current sociopolitical climate in which uncertainty is the only thing students can be certain of. Burnout has amplified with isolation and stress of the pandemic, and has been largely unaddressed by colleges. Noticing this burnout, Henson worked swiftly to get administration approved wellness days. Although some professors took wellness days into their own hands first semester, the lack of alignment led to a sense of disarray in which some classes had major projects due on a day another professor had led an optional class. To remedy this, Henson implemented set days in which professors were instructed to lighten the class load by refraining from assigning major projects or assignments, or making things due. These efforts were augmented by on campus activities for destressing such as care packages, smoothies, yoga, and my personal favorite, therapy goats (see the picture below for a happy goat feeding moment). As a whole, these efforts have been successful in giving a coordinated day for students to recharge, effectively giving the opportunity to practice self-care.

In the future, Henson hoped that Wofford would continue these "self-care" days, even in lieu of a pandemic. Every student is under immense stress, regardless of any threats of a virus, and knowing there are select days that they can take a moment of peace, or even have extra time to complete an assignment, can be extremely cathartic. Outside of these wellness days, Henson's wish for Wofford and all colleges was a greater focus on preventative health rather than crisis intervention. This means, rather than students going to the wellness center as a last resort for mental fatigue and issues of health, they could rely on the center to provide healthy outlets for stress to mitigate mental strain. Lacking a fully staffed department of mental health counselors has been detrimental to the Wofford community because the center has largely been unable to focus on these preventative measures, instead overbooked by students seeking counseling. According to Wofford Counseling Services data from 2018-2019, the Ratio of Full Time Equivalent Counseling Services was one staff to every 955 students. While we have since hired a new counselor, wait times and staff availability are still inferior to many comparable colleges in the state. It is Henson's hope that the college will be able to support a larger faculty to in turn foster the health of a growing a student body.

Henson ended our talk with great pride for the student body and young adults everywhere. This may be one of the first generations to talk openly about mental health and become advocates for awareness. The use of social media as a tool has provided students the opportunity to share resources to masses, protect anonymity of those seeking health, and generate widespread discourse. Everyone from Meghan Markle to my own roommates are sharing graphics encouraging self-care practices and mental health check-ins. It's Henson's hope that these advocates will continue to work for a greater good and inspire improved self-awareness and care, especially within the bounds of collegiate life.