“I’m not that Kind of Doctor”: Experiential Learning as the Student Mental Health & Wellbeing Superpower

Abstract

By any measure and in every higher education context, university students need more mental health and wellbeing (SMHW) care and support. Institutional mental health clinical capacity cannot keep up with student demand, and misguided university leaders advocate increasingly for educators to serve as SMHW “first responders” or “front lines” supporters. In this article I argue that institutional leadership should stop expecting, assuming or pretending that educators are mental health experts and that educators themselves should refuse to serve in this quasi-clinical capacity. As a sustainable and ethical alternative, I show how experiential learning connects educators with positive SMHW outcomes through fostering relational skills development. Experiential educators can enable mental health-supporting outcomes with learning opportunities we already employ. I end with four actions that experiential educators should take, staying out of a health provider role.