Beyond Surviving: How Therapy Helps Montgomery College Students Move from ‘Fine’ to Flourishing

Have you or someone you care about ever felt isolated from fellow students while in college?

Has making new connections proven harder than you expected?

Does everyone seem just too busy to get together?

You’re not alone.

Although you might see students chatting between classes or during lunch, beneath this busy exterior, many are silently struggling with loneliness.

Meet “Jenny”

Jenny decided she wasn’t ready to attend school out of state and chose to start at MC, planning to transfer for her junior year. What she has found is that the students are a wide range of ages, and many have jobs, making it really hard to make new connections. Also, many of her old high school friends are now out of the area. For the first time since she moved to MoCo in elementary school, she feels like she is in a new place and needs to move out of her comfort zone to make new friends. And it’s not going well.

Meet “Connor”

Connor’s parents divorced during his junior and senior years, which significantly impacted his grades. He’s using this time at MC to boost his GPA so he has more options when he re-applies, but right now, life just feels like a grind. Talking to girls is really intimidating, and he isn’t interested in making new friends. He isn’t sure if he’s depressed or just in a “funk,” but he definitely isn’t feeling his best.

Jenny and Connor’s stories are quite common. Recent national data show that nearly 65% of college students say they feel lonely. A 2023 advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General called loneliness a public health “epidemic,” and the data show this problem continues to affect college students a lot. This is important because students who feel lonely are over four times more likely to face severe psychological distress than their peers.

Montgomery College has recognized this challenge by offering Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills groups to help students build coping skills. But many students need more individualized support to address the root causes of their isolation and build the skills necessary for meaningful connections. The good news is that help is available.

 

The Post-Pandemic Paradox

Young people’s moods have been improving since the COVID crisis. For the first time in years, rates of severe depression and anxiety among college students are actually declining. The 2024-2025 Healthy Minds Study found that severe depression symptoms decreased from 23% in 2022 to 18% in 2025, and suicidal thoughts fell from 15% to 11% during the same period. Some welcome news for sure, but these numbers are still too high.

Sadly, despite these advances, only 36% of students say they are “flourishing” in college, meaning they feel high self-esteem, purpose, and optimism. More than half still feel lonely. Many students are no longer in crisis, but they’re not thriving either. They’re caught in the middle, and targeted therapeutic support can make the biggest difference there.

“We’re seeing many young adults who perform well academically but feel disconnected from those around them,” says a therapist at Kentlands Psychotherapy specializing in working with college students and young adults using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). “They describe going through the motions of attending classes and completing assignments, but not feeling the sense of belonging and connection that makes college meaningful. People often engage in avoidance behaviors when experiencing anxiety that feels overwhelming or beyond their control.

The effect on academic success is significant. Recent studies indicate that 68% of students say their mental or emotional struggles impact their schoolwork at least one day a month, with 17% reporting it happens six or more days.

 

How CBT Addresses Loneliness

While loneliness may seem like a temporary issue that will resolve itself, research indicates that social isolation and lack of connection require active effort. CBT provides practical, evidence-based strategies that assist students in transitioning from isolation to connection.

CBT is especially effective for loneliness because it targets both thoughts and behaviors that keep people stuck. Many students develop thought patterns like “Nobody wants to hang out with me” or “I’m too awkward to make friends.” These thoughts lead to avoidance behaviors such as staying in the dorm room or always studying at home instead of on campus, eating alone, and keeping headphones in between classes, which reinforce loneliness and negative self-views.

Through CBT, students learn to identify unhelpful thought patterns and test them against reality. They develop specific behavioral plans for participating in campus activities, initiating conversations, and gradually forming relationships. The approach is skill-based and practical, focusing on small, manageable steps rather than overwhelming changes.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can help clients tackle their challenges. In implementing CBT, the initial objective is to increase awareness of recurring negative thought patterns. Once identified, these thoughts are examined by weighing evidence for and against them. This process enables clients to practice pausing and critically evaluating their thoughts, rather than automatically accepting negative assumptions as reality. By practicing these skills, individuals become better equipped to manage anxiety in social situations by recognizing and challenging negative thought patterns and beliefs in the moment.

By focusing on things like how to start a conversation with a classmate, how to join a study group, or how to reach out to someone for coffee, young adults can learn to feel more confident connecting with others. These might sound simple, but for someone who’s been isolated, they require practice and support.

 

Finding Support

For Montgomery College students who see themselves in these statistics, reaching out for help is an important first step. This college program provides brief counseling and DBT skills groups. However, students seeking ongoing individual therapy can benefit from working with specialists who understand the unique challenges faced by college students and young adults.

Our therapists offer both virtual and in-person appointments, making it easier for students to fit therapy into busy academic schedules. Our therapists at Kentlands Psychotherapy provide the ongoing, personalized support that helps students not just survive college but truly flourish during this vital stage of life.

Since getting through college isn’t enough, the goal is to build connections, discover purpose, and develop skills that lay the foundation for lifelong well-being.

If this resonates with your experience, give us a call at (240) 252-3349 Ext. 807 to see if talking with someone can help turn things around for you.