Counseling Center
How to Make an Appointment
Stop By
If you want to make an appointment to see one of the counselors at the Counseling Center, stop by the office at room P305 in the Palace Road building and complete an intake form and your schedule. The receptionist will assist you. The hours are 8:30 to 5:30, Monday through Thursday, and 8:30 to 4:30 on Friday. At times, we receive calls for persons wanting to make an appointment for someone else. It is important to us that the students who seek our services do so out of their own free will, and so we require individuals to make their own appointments. Please have your class schedule available.
Scheduling Your First Appointment
The first appointment is referred to as an intake session and it usually lasts about fifty minutes. The intake session has several functions.
One function of the intake is to clarify what sort of concern is bringing you to the Counseling Center. This helps to determine if the Counseling Center is actually the most appropriate place to meet your needs. Secondly, the intake session is intended to provide the immediate services that are needed, such as referral to another agency, or a supportive and caring one-on-one talk with an objective listener who can help you gain perspective on an issue that is troubling you. Finally, the intake is an opportunity for us to get a general sense of who you are and what your significant life experiences have been. This helps us to provide some insight, because often your personal history can influence how you perceive the issue that is bringing you into the Counseling Center. Hopefully your session with the intake counselor will give you a slightly better perspective on your concern as well as a sense of hope that you will be able to resolve it. After the intake appointment, your counselor may recommend two more sessions to further evaluate your concerns and the best ways to assist you with them. At the end of the third session, you and your counselor may elect to continue counseling in the Center or seek a referral to a community resource.
Beginning a Course of Counseling
You and the intake counselor decide whether the Counseling Center is actually the most appropriate place to meet your needs. (For more information on the types of issues that are addressed here at the Counseling Center, see Issues and Concerns.) If, after the intake session, it appears that the Counseling Center is the most appropriate place to help you (which is true for the vast majority of students who come in), you and your counselor will meet at a mutually agreed upon day and time.
Referral to Another Resource
At times, it may be more appropriate to provide you with names and information of other places that may best suit your needs. For example, if the issue you present is more fully addressed by another College office, you may be referred to that office or professional. Other times, the issue that a student brings is more complex and long term counseling is more appropriate.
At times, just focusing on one aspect of an issue or simply introducing you to the counseling process can be an important part of growth, leaving you to decide whether you wish to continue with a professional outside of the Counseling Center after your experience has ended. Finally, there are times when a waiting list exists because of the high demand of services. If your concerns are such that it is not appropriate for you to be placed on a waiting list, you may be provided with referral information to other mental health agencies so that you can get help sooner than you would be able to with us. Please note that if a waiting list exists at the Counseling Center, it is used for students who have already been seen for their intakes and are waiting assignment for their course of counseling to begin. In other words, even when we have a waiting list, we continue to provide timely access to first-time intake sessions because it is important to us that we provide you with someone who can hear your struggle, help you identify some ways of coping for the time being, and help connect you with immediate support if we are not able to provide it ourselves.
