What to Expect at the Counseling Center

See also: Making an Appointment • Common Concerns

Our staff includes professionally trained and skilled counselors with whom you can discuss your concerns, questions and feelings in a comfortable and trusting environment. You may learn to make better decisions, change unwanted behaviors, improve personal skills and relationships, develop increased confidence and set future goals.

During your first meeting with a counselor you can expect to be asked questions about your concerns, as well as any history that may be relevant to an understanding of yourself. After discussing your concerns with you, the counselor may decide to:

• See you individually
• Refer you to another college service
• Refer you to a service in the community

Depending on the time of the year that you are seeking counseling, you may be seen promptly or you may have to wait up to two weeks for an appointment. If you are in immediate crisis, we will try to see you as soon as possible.

In counseling you can expect:

• confidentiality
• be listened to
• help communicating clearly
• help putting your concerns in perspective
• to develop goals and plans

Your counselor will expect you to:

• be as honest and open as possible
• commit to working on your concerns
• accept responsibility for your feelings and actions
• keep your appointments and show up on time

Your contact with the counseling center is confidential. We are not allowed to discuss your counseling, even the fact that you have sought counseling, with anyone outside of this office, unless you have given us written permission to do so.

The exceptions to the confidentiality policy include certain life and death emergencies or by court order. If your counselor believes that you intend to harm yourself or others, or suspects child abuse/neglect or dependent adult abuse/neglect on your part, the counselor is legally and ethically bound to report this to the appropriate authorities.

View a complete overview of the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics.