By Darla Martin Tucker

How do teachers know when a student is in psychological distress and needs help?

Minerva Sajjadi, new director of La Sierra University’s Counseling Center, hopes a brochure under development will help answer that question by providing guidelines on symptomatic behaviors and how to refer students to the center.

Sajjadi, four weeks into her new job, is also considering forming various support groups in the fall quarter. Group topics may range from assertiveness issues, relationship problems and adjusting-to-college concerns, to groups for survivors of rape.

“Our mission is to provide professional, competent, compassionate and culturally sensitive care to students and staff,” Sajjadi said. “We want to enhance their emotional, spiritual and psychological well-being and help them function to their potential.”

Sajjadi’s long-term goals include establishing practicum at the Counseling Center for graduate and doctoral students pursuing degrees in marriage and family therapy, social work and psychology, respectively.

Sajjadi brings to the position a cumulative nine years of experience as a social work practitioner with San Bernardino County’s Child Protective Services and as a clinical therapist with the county’s mental health department where she worked with individuals, families and groups. Her activities ranged from crisis intervention to psychological education classes for the community.

She also worked as a student therapist for the Jurupa Unified School District and last spring worked under a short-term contract for La Sierra’s Counseling Center.

Sajjadi is working toward becoming a licensed clinical social worker through the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

In addition to overseeing the Counseling Center’s operations, Sajjadi works with fifteen to twenty clients a week. “Toward the end of the quarter it gets busy,” she said. Some students experience excessive anxiety, worry, or fear of academic failure. “The center assists with increasing student’s coping skills, stabilizing fears and anxieties while increasing the ability to function on a daily basis,” she said.

The move to La Sierra was a homecoming for Sajjadi. It also meant she could work in much closer proximity to her daughters, ages 6 and 10, who attend adjacent La Sierra Academy. Sajjadi graduated from LSU in 1994 with a Bachelor’s of Social Work degree. While at La Sierra, she worked two years as a resident assistant in Angwin Hall. She earned a Master’s of Social Work from Loma Linda University in 1999.

“Minerva brings with her a wealth of good therapeutic experience in the public sector,” said Sue Curtis, associate vice president for student life. “She is a very grounded, organized person,” who brings both a compassionate personality and departmental leadership capabilities, Curtis said.

The Counseling Center, one of 12 departments under the Office of Student Life, offers weekly personal counseling and group sessions dealing with personal and family issues. The center also makes appropriate referrals to outside sources for various problems including eating disorders, chemical dependency and high-risk inpatient treatment. The center contracts with psychiatrist Brad Johnson who offers psychiatric services twice a month.

Sajjadi and her Counseling Center colleague Craig Beeson are considering collaborations with Student Life departments and other faculty to identify students in distress and encourage them to get help. The new brochure, targeted for completion in early June, will aid in this effort.

Although depression, anxiety and other chronic mental health problems are generally on the rise, there is less stigma associated with seeking psychological help, Sajjadi said. “There’s still some hesitancy, but once they know we’re abiding by confidentiality [laws], they’re more open to [counseling],” she said.

PR Contact: Larry Becker
Executive Director of University Relations
La Sierra University
Riverside, California
951.785.2460 (voice)