Building Capacity and Community: Rita McGaw on Rethinking Student Wellness at KCAI
10.07.2025
Rita McGaw, Director of Counseling & Wellness at KCAI, is reestablishing the Health + Wellness Center as a proactive, holistic space with traditional counseling and creative wellness programming.
Students interested in services should reach out at counseling@kcai.edu
Rita McGaw, Director of Counseling & Wellness at KCAI, says today’s college students are the first generation to grow up with a smartphone always within reach.
From constant screen time and disrupted sleep to the lasting personal and educational impacts of COVID-19, these influences continue to shape their daily lives.
“And these students are not afraid of having a diagnosis. They're not afraid of therapy. They're probably sick to death of hearing about coping skills or all of those buzzwords. And I don't blame them,” McGaw says.
These are the issues she has kept in mind while reestablishing the Health + Wellness Center at KCAI. Now in her second year leading the program, renovations are underway on the third floor of Jannes Library, with the goal of creating a proactive rather than reactive environment. It’s meant to be a holistic space where students can access talk therapy while also learning ways to build resilience.
McGaw articulated one of their goals as the straightforward desire to help students strengthen their capacity for relationships and everyday life.
“We still respond to crises, but we don’t want to only respond to crises,” she says, “which I think, for a lot of places, has not always happened in the past.”
The Health + Wellness Center reflects those intentions in its design, offering small areas for students to decompress alongside dedicated programming. Currently, a creative expression group runs experimental drama therapy every Friday. Next month, they’ll start a yoga group led by an instructor who is also a marriage and family therapist. McGaw says, “She'll guide some somatic therapies to help you get in touch with your body and focus on how it feels.”
In a more traditional approach, the Health + Wellness Center also offers talk therapy. McGaw currently supervises four interns who are working toward their counseling degrees (two from Friends University and two from UMKC) plus one contracted therapist who has been with KCAI for a longer period of time.
Students interested in services can reach out at counseling@kcai.edu
“I'm pretty hands-on with anything involving suicidal ideation or self harm. I’m also in contact with faculty as well as administration. They might text me to see if I can walk a student over. It seems to work well and we can mitigate whatever crisis is happening. And I'm happy to drive someone to an emergency room if needed, which I've done,” McGaw says.
“I don't think there's much that surprises me, or that I wouldn't be able to figure out how to handle. I think sometimes, especially concerning mental health, we make things more complicated than they need to be. So I think that is an advantage.”
“And these students are not afraid of having a diagnosis. They're not afraid of therapy. They're probably sick to death of hearing about coping skills or all of those buzzwords. And I don't blame them,”
Resilient Advocate
Reflecting on her taste in art, McGaw’s preferences mirror her personal approach. She favors earth tones and gravitates toward abstract pieces that feel muted or peaceful. That said, she loves visiting students’ studios, taking in their beautiful creations, enhanced by the charmingly awkward layouts of campus buildings, which have been updated and reused over KCAI’s 140-year history.
She also had a creative path before turning to psychology. Growing up, she was a dancer, training in jazz, tap, and ballet. “I was acting and dancing all of my young life. My bachelor’s degree from KU is in Theater and Film,” she says.
In her twenties, she became more aware of the issues surrounding human trafficking. She began volunteering with related programs and developed a deeper interest in psychology. She went back to school, earned a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and started working with youth in foster care, where she saw more connections to human trafficking.
As she has settled into her role at KCAI, she continues to explore how institutions can provide care on a broader scale. She launched a free pantry at the Health + Wellness Center, where students can pick up food and hygiene items at no cost. Last year, the center also held a clothing drive, with coats and hats quickly claimed by students.
McGaw says her goal is also to emphasize the importance of the simple things: sleeping, nutrition, exercise. She says, “These are things that when out of balance can affect student work. If we have a campus that promotes these things, we’ll have a healthier student body on the whole.”
“And then when a crisis does happen, there’s a foundation in place. As the therapist, you can start by asking: How can we begin to feel grounded again? What are you eating? Are you sleeping? Are you exercising? Do you have a community? Are you meeting face-to-face with anyone on campus? What does your support system look like?” she says.
“From there, we can build,” she continues, “whether it’s addressing a diagnosis or working on specific challenges, because we already have a place to start from.”