Sage Kiernan-Sherrow  | News Editor

Western’s Health and Counseling Center has recently implemented an interactive simulation service called Kognito to teach students communication strategies regarding emotional and psychological distress. 

Kognito is an online program co-founded by New York-based clinical psychologist and Baruch College professor, Dr. Glenn Albright, who originally developed the idea for the project when he recognized the need for faculty to have trauma-informed training after observing many students struggling. 

According to Kognito’s website, “his research involves integrating empirically-based findings drawn from neuroscience such as emotional regulation, mentalizing, and empathy, as well as components of social cognitive learning models including motivational interviewing and adult learning theory.” 

Kognito applies this research by employing a communication style known as “motivational interviewing,” which “helps people open up and make changes in their lives,” by reportedly making them feel less judged and more likely to open up, according to Albright.  

The simulations include computerized people programmed with personality and emotions and many are free and accessible to the public, available on one’s personal technological devices. And, since its inception, Kognito’s database has broadened to include simulations for veterans, K-12 students and teachers, members of the LGBTQ+ community, doctors and parental figures, teaching individuals how to approach sensitive topics and how to educate others about important issues, such as correct antibiotic use. 

At Western, the simulations are mostly used for educating students and faculty about how to talk to individuals who are experiencing psychological distress and how to motivate them to seek help from the counseling center.

Albright calls Kognito “a new and innovative simulation technology that can result in changes in people’s physical and emotional health which can be completed in privacy.”

Students can visit the SHCC, call 503-838-8313 or explore Kognito’s website for more details.

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Photo by Kay Bruley