New Counseling Center director implements changes

After the school shooting occurred at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, Tevya Zukor was there as… After the school shooting occurred at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, Tevya Zukor was there as a staff psychologist to help students cope. Now he plans to use his first-hand experience with crisis situations to implement changes at Pitt.

Zukor took over as director at Pitt’s Counseling Center on Sept. 19, succeeding James Cox, who will now teach full time in the School of Social Work. Zukor plans to expand group therapy services, implement crisis counseling for students and extend the center’s evening hours.

“I consider it quite an honor to be selected to lead the outstanding group of professionals who are already in place and provide the highest level of service for Pitt’s student body,” Zukor said. “My first week and a half has been fantastic, and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve just been getting acclimated to the campus and getting things set up for the fall semester.”

Zukor said he has been working with the staff to prepare new fall-semester initiatives. His staff consists of 10 full-time social workers, psychologists and counselors, as well as two full-time and five part-time staffers and five interns.

In accordance with the national trend in collegiate mental health that said group therapy is highly effective, Zukor plans to expand Pitt’s group counseling services. In group therapy, six to 10 people meet with a group therapist, and the feedback and overall improvement requires a team effort from each person.

“Group therapy is not only an opportunity to gain input from psychologists, but also to connect with other students of similar or dissimilar issues,” he said.

Zukor said that the Counseling Center’s current group therapy services are good but that there is a lot of room for them to expand and become more robust.

The Counseling Center has also extended evening hours for students until 9 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. Previously, the center closed at 5 p.m. Zukor said that it hired a number of part-time, highly skilled clinicians for these evening sessions, and it hopes to hire more in the near future.

The outreach aspect of the director’s position is the part for which Zukor said he is most excited. He looks forward to talking with students in their classes or in other areas on campus because the more they know him as a person and as a licensed psychologist, the less hesitant they are to stop by the Center for services.

One specific focus of counseling Zukor talked about was depression. He said that incidences of the illness have increased in recent years on college campuses, and he believes that the condition of the economy has something to do with it.

“Nothing happens in a vacuum,” he said. “The economy has been particularly harsh on the job market, and this leads to higher stress levels.”

During his session on depression, Zukor said he does address the issue of failure.

“The idea that everyone gets a trophy doesn’t help in certain ways,” Zukor said. “It’s important to stress to students that no one is going to be perfect at everything that they try. We need stumbles to make progress.”

“We really appreciate the service and leadership James Cox provided for our students and staff for many years,” Kathy Humphrey, vice provost and dean of students, said. “At the same time, we’re thrilled to be able to bring Tevya on board as our new director … He is going to provide excellent leadership and continue the fine work for which James and his staff are known.”

Sharon Young, the Counseling Center’s associate director, commended Zukor for his enthusiasm and experience.

“I think that he is a great addition to the staff here, and he has a lot of ideas … a lot of good suggestions about making some changes to help us better meet the needs of the students and just continue providing high-quality services,” she said.

Before coming to Pitt, Zukor served as the director of the Counseling and Psychology Services Center at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., for one year.

He began his tenure at Virginia Tech as a psychology intern in 2004 and later finished his postdoctoral residency in clinical psychology.

In 1999, Zukor earned a B.A. in psychology at James Madison University. He earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from George Mason University in 2002 and 2005. In addition to being a member of the American Group Psychotherapy Association, he is both a certified group psychotherapist and a licensed clinical psychologist.

Thanks to his previous education and work experience at a number of institutions, Zukor confidently stated that a student who has any issue, big or small, causing a disturbance or interference in his or her life is welcomed at the Counseling Center for services.