Services

We conduct traditional psychotherapy sessions, but we also work on stress management, time management, relationship issues, and depression, among other things. Students may seek counseling because they experience some type of discomfort or dissatisfaction in their personal lives or as a means of support for whatever they may be going through.

Eligibility

Counseling related services are available to all UNCSA students currently enrolled full-time at no cost.

Services

Career Counseling
Couple & Family Therapy
Crisis Intervention
Group Counseling
Individual Counseling/Psychotherapy

Policies

Regarding Appointments
To schedule an appointment, please call the Wellness Center at 336-770-3288 during regular working hours, 8:00 a.m.- 5 p.m. Individual and couples therapy appointments are generally for 45-50 minutes and are typically scheduled every other week at a time you and your therapist agree upon.

If you cannot make a scheduled appointment, it is your responsibility to call 336-770-3288 to cancel. If you forget an appointment, call as soon as possible to reschedule. If you miss your appointment and do not call to reschedule, your standing appointment time will not be held for you, and there is no guarantee your therapist will have another available appointment time. If this occurs and you have a mental health emergency, you may use one of our walk-in crisis hours.

Unsafe Behavior and Denial of Services
We do not intervene with students who are intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. Individuals who are under the influence may need medical attention or to be kept safe in a hospital or other secure environment. Therefore, a psychological intervention would serve little purpose. Further, if you are experiencing symptoms of a compromised immune system, such as the flu or a cold, please call and allow us to reschedule your appointment.

Counseling Services reserves the right to deny further services to individuals whose concerns are beyond the capacity of this office to effectively treat as well as to any individual that abuses or misuses services in any manner (e.g., frequent missed appointments, etc). If this should become necessary, other local treatment options and possible referrals would be discussed.

Referrals
In accordance with our mission, if we determine that your treatment needs require resources or competencies beyond what we can provide, (e.g., medically, level of severity, pharmacologically, legally, etc) we will assist with a referral to an appropriate mental health provider. Students presenting such conditions will be referred to appropriate resources in the community at the discretion of your therapist. Students are responsible for paying the costs incurred for services and treatment provided through outside agencies. We encourage inter-office referrals as well, should a client benefit from working with another provider on staff.

Psychiatric Medication
Counselors at Counseling Services are not physicians and cannot prescribe, provide, or make recommendations about specific medications. Students seeking medications are referred to Health Services for consultation.

Limits of Confidentiality
Information shared by you in assessment and counseling sessions will be treated with the strictest confidentiality and in most instances will not be disclosed to anyone without your written permission. A copy of our release of information form is available from the Wellness Center staff. There are situations that require only that you provide written, advanced consent, such as the following:

We train advanced graduate students from the mental health profession who are not yet licensed in North Carolina. Licensed counselors provide supervision, which may include discussion of your treatment and clinical record.
Because of desire for excellence and quality assurance, your therapist may ask your permission to record sessions for confidential supervisory and training purposes. Audiotapes and videotapes are digitized, encrypted and erased at the end of your treatment.
Your therapist may occasionally seek consultation with other Counseling and Health Services staff members about a case. In addition, administrative staff will need access to protected information for such purposes as scheduling and quality assurance.

There are some situations where we are permitted or required to disclose information either with or without your consent. All of our communication, including diagnoses, becomes part of the clinical record, which is accessible to you upon request (unless doing so would be psychologically harmful). Your therapist will keep confidential anything that you say to him/her, with the following exceptions:

You direct your counselor to tell someone else,
Your therapist determines that you are a danger to yourself or others,
Your therapist is ordered by a court to disclose information,
Your therapist suspects that there is child and/or elder abuse,
Your therapist is working collaboratively with other professionals where disclosure of personal information is necessary to provide optimal care
You are a minor for whom confidentiality is limited to the extent exercised by your parent/legal guardian.

When doing couples and family counseling, your therapist should not be asked to withhold specific information from other members of the family/system as it is difficult to guarantee adherence to the request.

Professional Records
The laws and standards of our profession require that we keep Protected Health Information about you in your clinical record. Your clinical record may include information about your reasons for seeking therapy, a description of the way in which your concerns affects your life, your diagnosis (if applicable), the goals for treatment, your progress toward those goals, your medical and social history, your treatment history, results of clinical assessments (including raw data), any past treatment records, and copies of any reports that have been received or sent to anyone. Personal information that you share with your therapist may be entered into your clinical record in written form. However, efforts are generally made to avoid entry of information that may be especially sensitive or embarrassing. Your clinical records are not part of academic records and clinical records are maintained for seven years.

Research and Quality Assurance
After your treatment has been completed, you may receive a brief questionnaire from the Center. Information for an annual report of services is routinely compiled and reported as group averages with no individually identifying information. This is used for program planning, service evaluation, and to assess service needs.

Although it is not possible to guarantee outcomes, The Counseling Center is committed to providing quality services. If you ever have any concerns about your experience, we encourage you to speak with your therapist about this. If the difficulty cannot be resolved by working with your therapist, you may address your concerns to Counseling Services Director Stephanie Cartwright or Director of Health Services Sharon Summer.