In the course of therapy, should the student's condition warrant psychotropic medication, the Counseling Center has consulting psychiatrists available for medication evaluations. Why Students Come to the Counseling Center Over the course of their education students go through numerous changes and pressures. Students come to the Counseling Center for help with concerns such as academic performance, test anxiety, poor concentration, depression, and low self-confidence. Your Role as a Faculty or Staff Member Individual faculty or staff members are encouraged to provide a first level response to problem student behavior, unless the behavior is threatening or warrants more serious attention by the university. Experience indicates that, despite the common fear that responding to problem behaviors will escalate the trouble, the opposite is usually true.
Students often express gratitude when faculty members respond effectively to problem behaviors.
However, it is important to know one's own limitations in providing assistance to students. Often the best response is to listen carefully and then to encourage the student to seek help at the Counseling Center. You may call the Counseling Center for a consultation if you are unsure of an appropriate intervention or if the student is reluctant to accept your referral. The following indicators may be useful in assessing whether or not a referral should be made. If the student includes actual plans for suicide, the severity of the danger to the student increases dramatically.