Welcome
You will be welcomed into our office by Diane, the Personal Counseling Center secretary and all around great person. She will offer you coffee, tea, water or soda, and probably a homemade cookie or two! You can expect to feel very comfortable within a minute or 2 of arriving here, and any anxiety you may have had about coming to our office will soon disappear. She's that good!
Paperwork
We will NOT flood you with forms to complete. You came here expecting to speak with a professional counselor and that is excatly what is going to happen on your first visit. (At some college counseling centers, the first visit is dedicated to having the student fill out forms and complete personal "assessments" and "inventories").
Diane will take a minute or 2 of your time to explain our confidentiality policy (Click here to learn more about confidentiality and also here to read what we tell parents about your right to privacy). We know that you want every assurance that your conversation with the couselor will be held in strictest confidence, so Diane will talk with you about that and answer any of your questions.
Timeliness
You can expect to be seen promptly at your scheduled appointment time. We respect your time and will not keep you waiting. Diane will introduce you to your counselor and you can expect to be seen by the same counselor for any return visits. Your counseling session will last for 50 minutes or so.
Your Counseling Session
Have you ever experienced really being listened to by another person? Most people, unfortunately, have not, and if you are one of them, you are in for an unusual and extremely gratifying experience. We are highly skilled and experienced in the arts and sciences of knowing how to focus fully and completely on the concerns our students brinig to us. We're pros! And as we like to remind students, no concern is "too small". If you are concerned about something, then so are we, and we fully respect your concern even though others might be telling you that "it's no big deal...stop making such a fuss".
We also engage students in the process of setting goals and problem solving. Given our years of experience and expertise, we can be very helpful with, for example, providing you with suggestions based upon what tends to help or "work" with the issue of your concern. However, YOUR INDIVIDUALITY is given our complete attention when we are in that problem solving mode with you. Discovering what suggestion will help or "work" for YOU is most critical, as opposed to what "generally helps most people."
At the end of your first session, we will ask you to give us your opinions about your first counseling experience with us. For example, we would like to know if it was easy to schedule an appointment, if you felt understood, how empathetic you felt we were, etc. Your feeback helps us improve and better serve you and other UPJ students as well. You can provide this feedback by checking items on a short form we have prepared, anonymously if you want.
We make every effort to ensure that your first visit (and every visit) with us will be a positive experience and well worth your time. We will collaborate with you as you seek to achieve your educational and personal goals.
A Final Note
Your friends can only help you so much, and besides, you should relate to them as your friends and not as your therapists! Leave that up to us and go ahead and enjoy your friends! This applies to boyfriend/girlfriend situations as well. You must exercise good judgment. Express your concerns to each other, but don't overburden the relationship by expecting it to be a date and a therapy session. The relationship will suffer.
We will look forward to meeting and working with you. Seeking out our services is the smart thing to do. Be smart!