The Counseling Center Process
During your years in college you will have many opportunities to develop your academic and career interests, form close relationships, examine your values and beliefs, and learn about the world around you. These opportunities can often feel exciting and engaging, but they can also be stressful. Problems with sleeping, anxiety about tests, difficulties with friends and loved ones, and uncertainty about the future are common complaints of college students. Over one-third of Lafayette students typically seek counseling at least once during their college career.
At the Counseling Center, we work with students to identify changes they would like to make in their lives and then help them to develop strategies to make these changes. Counseling is most effective when students and counselors collaborate on approaches that are consistent with the student's values, culture, and personality style. We work with students who are just starting to experience problems as well as with those who have struggled for a long time with psychological difficulties. Above all, we want to help you learn ways to achieve positive mental health and to avoid serious emotional distress so that you can make the most out of your Lafayette experience.
Is Counseling Effective?
Our approach to counseling uses weekly feedback to make sure that students are seeing improvements in the concerns that brought them to counseling. If for any reason you don't feel that there is a good fit between you and your counselor, we are happy to arrange for you to meet with another counselor at the Center or to provide referrals to mental health professionals in the Lehigh Valley.
Sometimes students hesitate to take advantage of the counseling resources available to them because they worry that it will take too much time or that it won't be effective. Research has consistently found that counseling and psychotherapy are very effective ways to resolve psychological difficulties. Usually students start to notice positive changes after just a few meetings, and the average number of counseling sessions at Lafayette is about 4. Students may meet with a counselor for up to 15 sessions each academic year.
Here's what students have said about their experience at the Counseling Center:
"I learned to set clearer and better goals to succeed."
"My counselor listened to my concerns and helped me to clearly see my situation and my options and decisions that I could make."
"It was great to talk about my problem knowing it would remain confidential."
"My counselor's optimism and strategies made me look forward to my appointments each week."
"I now have strategies to make myself comfortable in situations in which I was previously uncomfortable."
Couples and Friendship Counseling
Counseling can help couples, roommates, and friends improve their relationships. Current Lafayette students are welcome to meet with a counselor for up to 15 sessions per academic year. Counseling is most beneficial when both students are engaged and committed to making changes.
Group Counseling
The Center offers counseling and support groups that are especially helpful for students who wish to address interpersonal concerns. Group members are expected to rigorously maintain confidentiality so that members can benefit fully from their experience in a safe and trusting environment. Group counseling has been shown to be equally effective as individual counseling. As a result of participating in a confidential counseling or support group students can:
- Learn to improve their communication skills
- Seek and receive feedback about their behavior
- Experience feelings of connection and solidarity with others who have similar experiences
- Identify their strengths
- Develop new ways of relating to others
- Interact with people different than themselves
- Provide support and advice to others
- Establish trust and safety in relationships
Typically, groups meet for one semester, but the length of time can vary depending on the needs of the group members. There is NO LIMIT for the number of group sessions that students can attend.
Please call 610-330-5005 to find out what groups are available each semester and/or let your individual counselor know that you are interested in joining a group.
Off-Campus Referrals
For students, faculty, and staff who wish to seek counseling services off-campus, the Counseling Center maintains a directory of psychologists in the Lehigh Valley. We suggest that you call the Center to speak with a counselor about your particular needs.
Student Consultation
The Counseling Center staff regularly consults with parents, friends, faculty, and staff when they are concerned about a student. While legal and ethical guidelines regarding confidentiality prevent the counselors from revealing any information about their contacts with a student without his or her permission, the counselors are very willing to provide support and guidance for the concerned parties. All consultation contacts remain strictly confidential.
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