In this episode, Lauren sits down with Rachel Valentine, a PhD student in Counselor Education and Supervision at the University of Iowa, a practicing therapist, and Mental Health Director for Graduate and Professional Student Government. Together, they explore the growing issue of isolation among graduate and professional students and discuss how institutions can better support student well-being through community-centered approaches.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the student hosts, guests, and contributors, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the University of Iowa or the College of Public Health.

Lauren Lavin:

Hello everybody, and welcome back to Plugged In to Public Health. Today’s episode takes on a reality that many graduate and professional students experience but don’t always talk about openly, isolation and loneliness. Between academic pressure, life transitions and demanding schedules, it’s easy to feel disconnected even when we’re surrounded by people. We’re joined today by Rachel Valentine, a PhD student and counselor education and supervision at the University of Iowa, practicing therapist and newly elected mental health director for the graduate and professional student government. Rachel is leading a new initiative called the Graduate Student Dialogue Series, which is designed to create intentional spaces for connection, conversation, and community building across disciplines. In this episode, we talk about where graduate student isolation actually comes from, why traditional programming often misses the mark, and what it looks like to build something more student driven and meaningful.

We also discuss practical ways students can navigate this connection and take small steps towards building community in their own lives. I’m Lauren, and if it’s your first time with us welcome, we’re a student run podcast that talks about major issues in public health and how they are relevant to anyone both in and outside the field of public health. So let’s get plugged into public health. Plugged In to Public Health is produced and edited by the students at the University of Iowa College of Public Health, and the views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the student hosts, guests and contributors. They do not necessarily reflect the user opinions of the University of Iowa or the College of Public Health. Thank you, Rachel, so much for being on the podcast today. I’m so happy to have you. To start out, could you introduce yourself, who you are, what you do here at the University of Iowa?

Rachel Valentine:

Yes. So my name is Rachel Valentine. I am a current PhD student in counselor education and supervision. I’m in my first year and I am also a practicing therapist downtown in Iowa City and I primarily work with college students and graduate and professional students. And just recently last week, I was elected Mental Health director of the graduate and professional student government. So I’m really glad we’re having a chance to talk today.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. Girl, you are busy working, PhD, and some extra roles.

Rachel Valentine:

Oh yeah. Tried to diversify my experiences as much as I can while I’m here.

Lauren Lavin:

So did you have a master’s first to be able to practice?

Rachel Valentine:

Yes. So I actually did my first master’s here at the University of Iowa in sport and recreation management. My journey has been meandering, but all in the same, it’s always been centered around wellbeing, wellness, mental health. And I graduated with that master’s during the pandemic. And in 2020, trying to find a job in athletics was challenging, so I decided to pivot a little bit to something that would be more of a longstanding career and chose clinical mental health counseling. So I went to Wichita State University, moved to Wichita, Kansas, which it’s funny and ironic because at one point I said, “I’m never going to move or live in Kansas.”

Lauren Lavin:

And there you are.

Rachel Valentine:

And then boom, there we go. And then it just worked out well. I was there for a few years and now I’m back.

Lauren Lavin:

And where are you from originally?

Rachel Valentine:

I’m actually from Centerville, Iowa, which is about two and a half hours south of here, near the Missouri border.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. So not too far.

Rachel Valentine:

Not too terribly far, no.

Lauren Lavin:

Okay. And then, so you got your second master’s and now you’re getting your PhD. What prompted that?

Rachel Valentine:

So when I finished with my master’s at Wichita State University, at the time I was considering actually higher education and student affairs because I was interested in maybe administration and teaching. So I actually came here and did one full year in higher education and student affairs, PhD, before I decided that I really am passionate about teaching, training and potentially supervising future mental health professionals. And in order to do so you do have to graduate from an accredited program, specifically CACREP accreditation is what it’s called. And so I was able to transition into counselor education.

And I’m very thankful to the faculty, staff, classmates in both higher education and counselor education. They made the transition very seamless and I felt very supported throughout that transition. And I also add too that, my cohort members were not surprised because they were all listening to me present constantly on wellness and mental health. And not that it’s not a component in higher education because you can definitely take that pathway, but they could tell that I was really just searching to go home and that’s what the counselor education program said when I got in was welcome home. So felt very supported in that.

Lauren Lavin:

Sounds like it was a good fit and also like you are a professional student at this point with all the schooling you’ve gone to.

Rachel Valentine:

Girl, I’ve heard that many times.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah, I’m sure. And so you just finished your first year, and I mean, survived maybe is a better word, but I’m grateful for you taking time. We’re recording this at the end of May, so I know this can be… Or no, the end of April, beginning of May, so I know this can be a busy time for students.

Rachel Valentine:

Definitely.

Lauren Lavin:

So we’re going to talk specifically on this podcast about the graduate student dialogue series that it came across my inbox and I was like, “Oh, this is interesting. It’d make a good podcast episode.” So my first question is, what led to the creation of this graduate student dialogue series and what need were you seeing?

Rachel Valentine:

My inspiration behind the dialogue series was listening to my cohort members discuss maybe they don’t have time to be a part of shared governance meetings or organized meetings by the university. Not only that, but there’s still a barrier in seeking mental health services. And some students don’t want to seek mental health services, but instead are just looking for camaraderie, community building. And so I felt like there was a gap. And in filling that gap, I felt as though creating a more of informal conversation space outside of classes, maybe even off of the university campus a little bit for both graduate and professional students. And then through those conversations, being centered and facilitated around multidimensional wellness, naturally people could share resources with each other and get to know each other. And I think that would increase overall socialization, decrease feelings of isolation, which is primarily what I hear from my clients and did a brief needs assessment for the dialogue series. And that was actually the number one cause for individuals looking for a space like this, isolation, academic pressure and just lack of community. So there was definitely a need.

Lauren Lavin:

The need for community and loneliness is a recurring theme that I hear all the time, both as a instigator to mental health challenges and also just a reality of the world we’re living in. Do you have any additional comments on that? How do you see that playing out and what do you think are the solutions to that? Is there an end in sight basically?

Rachel Valentine:

Definitely. There are a lot of layers to isolation, especially for graduate and professional students. You’re leaving home, you’re leaving the people, the communities that you’re used to-

Lauren Lavin:

Sometimes even the country that you grew up in.

Rachel Valentine:

Sometimes even the countries, exactly. So international students face multitudes of challenges that are surrounded by isolation. Not only that, we have caregivers on campus, parents and those who do care for elderly individuals or individuals with chronic illness. And with that responsibility plus added academic pressure, there’s this narrative of the lonely graduate students, broke graduate students. And I could go on with all of the titles that come along with being a graduate or professional student. And people are, I think, oftentimes quick to accept that narrative rather than challenge it. And so I think that might be a potential, I wouldn’t say all encompassing solution, but I do think part of it is recognizing what is causing the isolation from maybe even a wellness perspective. I think it’s all really related to academic pressure. I would say that’s a primary responsibility.

Students oftentimes believe that they don’t have time to reach out to peers and meet up with individuals on or off campus. And it’s the falling into the narrative is really what I try to challenge with my students and who I work with. Ultimately, finding control as much as you can, but then also understanding isolation is ultimately, it can be combated with communication and community, which is another reason why that dialogue series, I think, will be helpful for students. It may not be the, like I said, end all be all solution, but it’s an additional layer. And with that, I think some students, and this is something I’ve noticed too with the survey, is that some students are doubtful that this will help. And rightfully something I’ve heard as well from the survey is that the university and surrounding institutions, colleges as well make promises to these students to create that community and find solutions. And sometimes it’s not about making a promise. Sometimes it’s really just about creating a space for students to fulfill that promise themselves.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah, facilitating experiences. So why was it important to design this as dialogue based in a co-created space rather than a more traditional program?

Rachel Valentine:

I think when programming is oftentimes structured, sometimes it’s done so with the assumption in mind of what students might need. And so I wanted to go directly to the students and ask, “What would make this worth your time?” That’s one of the questions in the needs assessment.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah, and what’d you hear?

Rachel Valentine:

So variety of answers, and that’s part of where I recognize some resistance and maybe some feelings of doubt and some feelings of hurt and someone mentioned something along the lines of, “I don’t think this will. And I don’t think this will be worth my time.” And I appreciate that feedback so much because that just helps me feel even more motivated to-

Lauren Lavin:

Make sure you [inaudible 00:10:34].

Rachel Valentine:

I’m going to try my best, but it’s also something where, like I said, with isolation, you have to be intentional about spending time in public spaces with people in your cohort, outside of your cohort, finding community. And so this is a chance for students to come forward and be a part of the dialogue in an intentional way and be able to provide their own insight and their experiences. And then hopefully as a side product or a byproduct, individuals will be able to create their own connections with people whom maybe they wouldn’t have in the first place.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. I think one of the hardest challenges for people who feel lonely or isolated is that it feels like there’s no way out. Even if you know that’s your problem, half the reason you’re in the problem is because you don’t feel like you have anyone. So you’re like, “I want to fix the problem.” But where do you go? So facilitating spaces like this gives people an opportunity, well, I see that’s a problem in my own life and here’s like a structured way… And especially if you’re a graduate student, you thrive on structure. And so having spaces like that where you know there’s going to be structure and you can come together and it’s not just like you sitting there necessarily looking at people, that there’s some facilitation involved and like-minded. All of those good things are all coming together in this kind of program.

Rachel Valentine:

Definitely.

Lauren Lavin:

So what role do you think social connection plays in just wellbeing overall?

Rachel Valentine:

Oh gosh, it’s everything. And it’s one thing too that, something I notice with clients I work with and students I work with, when they come to a session saying things like, “Man, I’m feeling like I’m not a priority to other people. I feel lonely. I feel isolated.” And my first question is, “How are you prioritizing yourself? What are you doing to put your best foot forward for yourself?” And oftentimes it’s really a shell shock moment to help them recognize that they have control in the situation too. I always like to say just, “You can just do things, bro.” I know that seems silly, but-

Lauren Lavin:

No. It’s true.

Rachel Valentine:

… it’s really just pulling them out of the funk, pulling them out of the fog, the low point and just saying, “Hey,” without physically shaking them by the shoulders, saying, “Hey, you can do this. You have so much to offer. You have so much to talk about, and there are so many students that are feeling the same exact way, and they’re just waiting for you to reach out. They’re waiting for you to initiate that conversation.” And like I said, in this space, I think once again, creating the opportunity for students to show up and facilitate their own conversation. I’m not going to be leading every dialogue series. The goal is for students to come together. Maybe there’ll be leading questions on the table surrounded by, or I guess regarded to some type of multidimensional wellness, but ultimately it’s up to them to facilitate that conversation and yeah, gain that experience.

Lauren Lavin:

And build the skills.

Rachel Valentine:

Build the skills.

Lauren Lavin:

Or realize they can do it if they already have the skills.

Rachel Valentine:

Yes. And something I want to add is I definitely want to make note that I… No one’s at blame or at fault for isolation, especially not the student. Like I said, it’s the societal, systemic narrative that when you’re a graduate student, it’s isolating. When you’re a graduate student, you’re going to be broke, et cetera, et cetera. So it’s up to us as graduate students to challenge that narrative.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. And probably set some boundaries because yeah, you’re isolated, you might be working from home or you have a lot on your plate and even just-

Rachel Valentine:

Definitely.

Lauren Lavin:

… making some clear expectations or timelines for things can help separate work from real life.

Rachel Valentine:

And you know what? Sometimes it’s about meeting the students where they’re at as well. We have, like I said, some students who live off campus and commute every day and some students who have children and like I said, who are caregivers who they cannot travel to campus to come even to the dialogue series in person. And so offering multimodal communication opportunities, some series will probably be on Zoom. I’m going to try my best to offer as many accommodating spaces for students because at the end of the day, it’s removing the barriers. That’s really my goal here and that’s why we’re specifically not really using mental health language within the dialogue series. It’s all related to just wellness and socialization. And if mental health is a byproduct of that, that’s even better.

Lauren Lavin:

So has the kickoff to the series happened?

Rachel Valentine:

Not yet. It’s actually this Thursday, April 30th, and I’ll be at the greenhouse probably around 5:00, but people will most likely start arriving around 5:30 and it’ll go until 7:30. I’m bringing boardgames to help with the comfortability and facilitation of conversation. And it’s really just a space to introduce yourself to someone else that’s interested in that space, but also offer some feedback. I want to hear from the students, “What do you need? Help me help you.” And that’s something I said in the mental health director election is, “Help me help you. I want to visit your communities. I want to see what is going on in your communities that is not being supplemented right now or helped.” And I’ve already heard some feedback from multiple programs where I’ve been asked to go speak to some pharmacy students in their first year about wellness and sustainability of graduate student life, and that’s what I’m talking about. Ask each other for help. I’m more than happy to do, and I’m sure other classmates would be too.

Lauren Lavin:

Absolutely. So kickoff is this week. Then how do you see this going forward? How often will the events be, that type of thing?

Rachel Valentine:

Yeah. So I think with this particular event, from here, I will continue distributing the needs assessment. So students will be able to continue filling that portion out, especially those who are unable to attend on Thursday. I wanted them to be able to actually have an opportunity to continue to contribute. And from there, over the summertime, my plan is to develop what the series will actually look like. And that would be most likely two to four meetings a semester. That’s the goal. Maybe every other is online versus in person, somewhere close to campus that offers food and beverages and during a time and day that accommodates the most people and that’s also within the needs assessment. So graduate professional students, if you’re listening, please fulfill that needs assessment. I will hopefully be hanging up those sheets around when I get the chance, but you should have received an email about the series from either the chair or director of your program.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. And I can always include a link to it in the show notes.

Rachel Valentine:

That’s fantastic. That’d be great.

Lauren Lavin:

So how do you plan to make this series feel meaningful and worth students’ time, given how busy they are?

Rachel Valentine:

So that is where, once again, that piece of control comes into play, where students are welcome to attend the series that might be most relevant to them. So they’ll know way ahead of time when these series will take place, days, times, et cetera, and also what each individual meeting will be centered around. So the first one will probably be physical and mental wellness. Second one could be social and intellectual wellness. So whatever resonates the most with those students, I’m hoping that by breaking it down, it’ll feel more digestible and that they’re not missing a huge portion of information that they can attend to what they think they need.

Lauren Lavin:

And how do you envision each series going? Is someone coming in to speak? Is it just dialoguing? What does it look like?

Rachel Valentine:

Yeah. So primarily it’ll be the dialogue piece. Questions will be out either on tables or on a PowerPoint slide for students to facilitate their own discussions. And then I am thinking of assigning a table captain or something along those lines for someone to take notes or informal points of information that they feel comfortable sharing with me so then I can continue bettering the program based on what students are wanting and needing. And not only that, by collaborating with administrators on campus, I’ll be able to even relay that information directly to them so they can gather as much feedback as possible. And I know that there are some talks around potentially developing focus groups within the mental health dimension. So this would be a really great stepping stone to any further mental health programming for students without, like I said, the mental health language.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah, absolutely. So think about a year from now, what would success look like for this initiative?

Rachel Valentine:

I think success would look like students being able to take at least one bit of information into their life from this series. Not only that, but word of mouth. I think if I had someone show up and say, “So-and-so recommended I come to this program and here I am,” I think that would be just a tremendous success in my mind. A lot of the programs that I know of that are the most successful, it is word of mouth. You have a pilot group that goes in there not really knowing what to expect, and then they get something out of it, and then it continues to transform based on what they achieve. And overall, that would be success to me, is if people just tell their friends, bring their friends, and then hopefully get something out of it.

Lauren Lavin:

Yeah. Or word of mouth is the best form of advertising.

Rachel Valentine:

It really is.

Lauren Lavin:

Okay. So my final question for you today is, for students listening who may be struggling or feeling disconnected, what do you want them to know?

Rachel Valentine:

First of all, I know you’ve probably heard this a lot, but I will remind you that you are not alone at all. I will also say, you have a tremendous amount to offer to the world, and that is why you are here, and I want to know what you have to offer. So if you feel isolated, you can reach out to me directly, let’s get coffee, let’s chat, and then I would be happy to connect you with people or resources that I think would even better your quality of life even further. So once again, you have so much to offer so much, and you are so talented, and I want to know more about you, and you are not alone.

Lauren Lavin:

What a fabulous way to end this podcast. I really appreciate chatting with you today, Rachel, and I’m excited to hear how the first event goes.

Rachel Valentine:

Thank you so much. Thank you tremendously. Thank you so much for having me on here.

Lauren Lavin:

That’s it for our episode this week. A big thank you to Rachel Valentine for joining us and for sharing both her professional perspective and her personal experience navigating graduate student life. A few key takeaways from this conversation. Isolation in graduate school is common, but it’s not inevitable. Community doesn’t always come from formal programming. It can come from intentional smaller scale spaces where people can show up as they are. And importantly, students don’t just need more resources. They need environments where they can actually connect with one another. If you’re interested in getting involved, you can contribute to shaping the graduate student dialogue series by filling out the needs assessment survey linked in our show notes. Rachel also highlighted the graduate college’s peer-to-peer mentorship program, which matches first-year PhD students with more experienced peers and offers additional networking opportunities. It’s another practical option for students looking to build connections early on.

This episode was hosted and written by Lauren Lavin and produced by Lauren Lavin. You can learn more about the University of Iowa College of Public Health on Facebook. Our podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and SoundCloud. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to support the podcast, please share it with a friend, classmate, or anyone navigating graduate school. Have a suggestion for our team, you can reach us at CPH-GradAmbassador@uiowa.edu. This episode is brought to you by the University of Iowa College of Public Health. Until next week, stay healthy, stay curious, and take care.