Individual Counseling

Many kinds of issues and concerns can best and most comfortably be dealt with by working with a counselor on an individual basis. If individual counseling seems best for your needs, you will ordinarily continue meeting with your intake counselor.

Occasionally, you may be referred to another counselor whose expertise can better meet your needs. The maximum number of individual sessions that a client may have in any calendar year is twelve, although most problems can be resolved in fewer sessions, with the average number being four. The number and frequency of sessions will be determined by your counselor.

Group Counseling

Sometimes a student and their counselor decide that group therapy is the best way to address their issues. This is often the case when students have questions about how they get along with others or if they are feeling lonely and isolated. At other times, students may experience unique difficulties that are best addressed with others who share those same concerns. Students who have been in group therapy often report that they enjoyed getting to know group members over time and that they found giving and receiving feedback from others helpful. Often students tell us that it was very reassuring to realize that other students had the same types of concerns and to learn about how they coped with them.

The Counseling Center offers a wide range of groups every semester. Many groups have a theme or common issue that all members share such as self-esteem, eating problems, sexual victimization, or sexual orientation. We also offer groups for persons who do not have a common issue but who desire to work through their concerns with a group of peers. Groups range in size from four to twelve persons and they usually have two counselors or leaders. Most of our groups are stable in membership, which means that the same people meet from week to week until the group ends. Each semester the types of groups offered and meeting times vary. Group therapy is also confidential, but there are some special issues you may wish to learn more about.

Psychiatric Counseling

A consulting psychiatrist is available to serve students in conjunction with counseling services. Psychiatric services are available by referral only. All of our services are free and confidential.