The Counseling Center at Towson University was first established in 1968, when Earle T. Hawkins included the Student Mental Health Services Program in the fiscal year 1968 budget. This budget included a partnership with Sheppard and Enoch Pratt psychiatrists to provide full-time services at the university. These services would prove to act in time with the world’s understanding of mental health, and became a cornerstone of Towson University’s community and a beneficial service to the student body. The first participating doctors were Drs. Gillis Coutu and William E. Abramson, who did their work on site with oversight from Dr. Kent E. Robinson, Director of Outpatient Services at Sheppard Pratt. In 1966, the Counseling Center was established on campus in Glen Esk, with Edwin C. Bernos as its director, Marthe Quinotte as a counselor, and Sandy Healy as secretary. Their self-proclaimed goal was to help students experiencing self-doubt in the transition onto a college campus. The Counseling Center soon became more than a therapist’s office on campus, hosting group exercises under the name of “Personal Growth Activities.” Some of these included “Sensitivity Training,” “Expressive Movement and Body Freedom,” as well as “Personal and Interpersonal Conflicts.” In 1971, the Counseling Center offered training for “counselors during their last six hours of their masters degree program in psychology.” The facility was equipped with two-way vision mirrors so that sessions could be observed with the consent of the student. In 1972, the Counseling Center began to host programs with guest speakers rather than group activities. Some of the topics included sexuality and racial support on campus. The center continued to grow in size and relevance, and in 1977, projected plans outlined a staff of twelve counselors along with various supporting personnel. 1980 brought the innovation of a telephone line with pre-recorded messages sponsored by the Counseling Center called the COPE Line. This allowed students to receive guidance from experts on various topics, which included “Female/Male Homosexuality,” “Female/Male Sex Roles,” and “Minority Affairs.” The Counseling Center was also called the Draft-Military-Veteran Counseling and Information Center, and offered to explain the importance of the draft to students who were chosen to join the armed forces. Several articles to spread awareness of mental health were published in the Towerlight Newspaper, such as “In Short: Anxiety,” which referred students to the Counseling Center for hypnosis which would “reduce anxiety.”A focus on alcohol awareness swept campus, and the Counseling Center created a Towson State University Alcohol Policy Brochure. In 1990, the Marthe Quinotte scholarship was introduced to Towson Students, a scholarship totalling five hundred dollars named after the first counselor of the Counseling Center. In 1991, the COPE Line was revised, with new topics such as “Marriage and Family,” “Drug Abuse,” and “STDs.” Its popularity continued into the early 2000s The increased focus on alcohol abuse continued into the 2000s, with posters and brochures such as the “High Risk Drinking” brochure being included in the Counseling Office’s supplementary materials. In 2014, the Counseling Center was moved to Ward & West.



Supplementary Information:

Doctor Jacob H. Conn speaks to Towson Students on his hypnosis techniques (1955) Ultimate Relaxation Hypnosis Program advertised in school paper (1982) Test Anxiety Reduction Workshops using hypnosis (1980) COPE-Line in use from 1978-2002? Marthe Quinotte Scholarship 1990, 1983 “View Deck” machine helps with post-college clarity?