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What If A Student Is Reluctant To Seek Help?
What Happens When A Student Visits the Counseling Center For the First Time?
How Long Must Students Wait to Receive Therapy?
What Resources and Services Can be Found at the Counseling Center?
Referrals and Emergency Assistance

What If A Student Is Reluctant To Seek Help?
While it is important to care about the emotional well being of students, we cannot make their decisions for them, and counseling is always a personal choice. Nevertheless, we can assist a student who is ambivalent about seeking professional help in a number of ways. One way is to normalize the process of seeking help; this may be especially helpful for international students whose countries may not have similar views of psychological counseling. Students may be reassured that their problems need not reach crisis proportions for them to benefit from professional help. Reluctant students might also be relieved to know that they can just drop in and speak to a counselor on a one-time basis without making a commitment to ongoing therapy. Furthermore, any contact and information shared by the student is kept strictly confidential within the Counseling Center and will not be disclosed to parents, faculty, or other University departments, except with the the student's written permission or when there is a clear, imminent danger to self or others. Finally, it is important acknowledge, validate, and discuss the students' real fears and concerns about seeking help. While some students may feel that to seek counseling is an admission of weakness or failure, in fact, it takes considerable courage and integrity to face oneself and acknowledge one's limitations.

What Happens When A Student Visits the Counseling Center For the First Time?
The Counseling Center operates regular drop-in hours throughout the week (See Drop-In Schedule Below), and is available to respond to psychological emergencies from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday. Drop-in clients are seen on a first come-first served basis after showing their student ID and completing a few information forms. The drop-in counselor will evaluate the nature and severity of the problem, and together with the student, determine a course of action such as a few problem solving sessions, individual or couples counseling, group therapy, or referral to another university or community resource. Individual and couples counseling generally is offered on a short-term basis (i.e., one to ten sessions).

How Long Must Students Wait to Receive Therapy?
In light of the high demand for our services and the economic realities of this state, the Counseling Center frequently operates with a waiting list. This list tends to be shortest at the beginning of Fall term, then climbs as more students seek our services. Although students with a genuine emergency are seen immediately, the wait for ongoing therapy can range from as brief as a few days to as long as two months. Students on the waiting list are assigned to a counselor in the order of their initial visit, with some exceptions depending upon seriousness of the problem.

What Resources and Services Can be Found at the Counseling Center?
Each term the Counseling Center offers a range of therapy groups which focus on such topics as eating disorders, alcohol/drug recovery, sexual orientation, the struggles of older students, graduate students, and international students, as well as sexual abuse and assault. Please consult our latest group brochure for a listing of current offerings. We also provide workshops and presentations for various campus organizations, and consult with administrators, faculty, and staff who are dealing with student problems. The Counseling Center operates a substantial training program, including pre-doctoral and pre-masters internships. Our Testing Center coordinates all nationally administered tests, offers placement and waiver tests, and credit by exam.

Counseling Center Drop-In Hours