Written by Marisa Seager
Sophomore Charlotte Gaston has recently started a weekly radio show/podcast called “Free Therapy with Charlotte,” which will be focusing on mental health and trying to destigmatize it on our campus, in hopes of opening up more dialogue between students. Each week there will be a focus on a broad topic to be broken down into strategies that we, as busy college students, can use to cope with what we are going through at the time. For now, it will be hosted by Charlotte herself, but in the future, you just might hear the voices of other guests.
Although she is not a licensed medical professional, nor a doctor, Charlotte has been going to therapy for a while now and is quite familiar with coping mechanisms and strategies that have worked for herself as well as others. With the use of this show, she hopes to accomplish the start of dialogue, specifically regarding mental health and possibly making people more willing to attend one-on-one or group therapy.
“It has changed my life as well as many others’,” says Charlotte. The stigma for seeking help must come to an end.
For the first week, the topic of “Finding Stability in a Time of Uncertainty” has been chosen. Charlotte will be going over what is really on everyone’s mind right now – the election, the pandemic, and the fight against systemic racism. Even though this is a very specific topic, she thinks that it will be extremely beneficial to have a conversation about it. In the episodes to come, the plan is to cover topics ranging from understanding what obsessive-compulsive disorder, also known as “OCD,” is to LGBTQ+ community issues.
By the time you are reading this article, you will have already missed the very first cast of “Free Therapy with Charlotte.” But… there is always next time!
Listeners can tune in on Saturdays from 5-6 p.m. on the WRKE station, 100.3, if they are in Salem or on the Tune In app, by searching “WRKE,” if they are not. You can also access the show by visiting the WRKE website.
