DALLAS, Pa. — Virtual reality goggles with a choice of soothing environments or guided meditations.

A color-changing bubble wall.

A prayer area, Zen garden and massage chair.

These are all options provided by Penn State Wilkes-Barre’s Counseling Services to help students relax and stay calm.

“Students today are experiencing more and different stressors than those in the past,” said Meredith Cosgrove, Penn State Wilkes-Barre personal counselor. “We are very technology based as a society and that can cause a lot of overstimulation. Additionally, our students are coming from COVID lockdown experiences and have some unique stressors that other generations didn’t have. As a result, we’re trying to give students opportunities to develop coping tools to deal with all different types of stressors.”

Cosgrove provides therapy in one-on-one and group settings and also is part of the campus Care Team and crisis management groups.

“I work on developing students’ coping skills and helping them with adjustment to college life. I also help with any type of family issues or dealing with anxiety, depression and stress reduction,” she said.

Cosgrove also offers programs throughout the academic year, visiting classrooms to provide students, faculty and staff with psychological education. Through her role as part of Student Affairs, she offers programs such as Therapeutic Thursdays that are open to the campus community, inviting students to stop in to take part in a designated activity.

Students have been able to use the campus’ new virtual reality (VR) goggles to experience a variety of situations during Therapeutic Thursdays. Purchased through the Student Activities Fee, the goggles can display a calming environment to help students relax.

“Many of our students have already used VR goggles outside of a therapeutic setting for games or sports simulations,” she said. “The goggles block out a lot of the outside noise and provide a full three-dimensional immersion where students can also see what is going on in the goggles, transporting them to a different area. If someone is experiencing anxiety or stress, they can go swimming in the ocean or listen to beach sounds — whatever is helpful to them and allows them to focus in an area other than where they are.”

The goggles can also simulate a variety of conditions such as autism to help develop empathy in students’ peers.

“Last semester during a Therapeutic Thursday event, we had students engage in a simulation of what it feels like to be an individual on the autism spectrum disorder,” Cosgrove explained. “It distorted their senses when watching a YouTube video and provided increased stimulation for people going into a simulated public space. It was jarring to the students and made them feel uncomfortable, but that was the point of the exercise: to make them feel what it’s like for people different from them. I think it allowed them to become more educated on what someone on the autism spectrum might be going through and understand behaviors that might seem awkward to someone who is neurotypical versus someone who is neurodivergent.”

The goggles can also be used to provide drug and alcohol simulations, replicating what it feels like to be intoxicated or under the influence of different substances.

Cosgrove keeps a pair of the goggles in her office for use during sessions with students who are experiencing anxiety or panic, using them to do a guided meditation or practice relaxation techniques. The other pair is in the new decompression zone for students to access when they have reserved time in that area.

The decompression zone is located in Room 124 of the Murphy Student Services Center. While the area is already available for students to use, a grand opening celebration with cupcakes will be held Sept. 18 during common hour.

The decompression zone is “a mixture of a relaxation space and a prayer space,” Cosgrove described. It features a color-changing bubble wall; relaxation tools including a Zen garden and a massage chair; and a prayer area with items and books for different religions. It was developed in collaboration with Student Affairs, Disability Resources, and the Student Government Association, and funded through the Student Facilities Fee.

In addition to the decompression zone and VR goggles, Counseling Services provides a variety of techniques and tools to help students manage anxiety and reduce stress. Cosgrove practices grounding techniques with students, teaching them how to relax and focus, and offers giveaway items including sensory tools and fidget toys.

“We want to increase the awareness that mental health is important on this campus and at the University as a whole,” she said. “Things like this can help students recognize there are safe spaces for them to go to get themselves to a more even-keeled place.”

Students can email Cosgrove to meet with her for counseling or to book a 30-minute slot in the decompression zone.