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How to Help:  Faculty, Staff, & Parent Information
Suggestions for how faculty, staff, parents, and concerned others can provide assistance to students who may be in need of help.

Students in Distress | How to Refer | Just for Parents
Helping a Friend | Additional Ways to Help

Overview

Our Role

The role of Counseling Services is to facilitate student learning about their emotional and psychological development and to positively impact academic decision-making and retention. We work to help students resolve problems that interfere with personal, social, and academic functioning while also emphasizing prevention, development, adjustment, and wellness.

Counseling Services provides short-term psychological services to registered students who have paid their student health fee. In addition, faculty and staff members may use our consultation, referral, crisis, and outreach programming services. [NOTE: If you are a faculty/staff member seeking psychological services for yourself, please contact Geneseo's Employee Assistance Program (EAP), at 245-5616.]  More detailed information about the services we offer can be found on the Counseling Services Our Services page.

Confidentiality

In order to provide a safe environment for students to explore their thoughts and feelings, all consultation and counseling services are confidential. This means that our staff does not reveal the identity of students who seek services, will not confirm or deny participation in services, and will not discuss the details of therapy sessions with anyone outside of the Health & Counseling department without the student's knowledge and written consent. Similarly, information about participation in counseling does not appear on a student's academic record.

Ww do ask students if they were referred to our office by faculty, staff, a family member, or others.  If you would like to confirm that a student has been to our office, we encourage you to talk to the student first and request that the student sign an authorization to release information.  We would be happy to speak with you if the student requests for us to do so.

Students may request to sign a written release granting us permission to share confidential information with the person(s) of their choice, including faculty, staff, parents, and other clinicians. The Health & Counseling release form is available to be downloaded and printed as a PDF file:

Authorization to Release Information

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Students in Distress

Identifying Potential Student Problems

Faculty, staff, and parents often have the most direct contact with students and thus may be the first to notice any changes. In order to facilitate early identification of difficulties, listed below are some possible warning signs which may suggest that a student is in need of assistance.

  • a change in appearance (e.g., poor hygiene, weight gain/loss)
  • a drop in GPA or academic performance from the previous semester, especially for students who generally perform above average
  • increased irritability or agitation
  • consistently inappropriate, illogical, or unrelated questions
  • distracted or preoccupied thought processes
  • withdrawal from social interactions with peers, family, and significant others, frequent class absences, and expressions of loneliness
  • fearful responses, such as avoidance or apprehension about being alone
  • occurrence of a recent loss or other crisis (e.g., relationship breakup, death of a friend or family member, academic failure, physical illness, rape/sexual assault, bullying)
  • expressions of hopelessness (statements such as "there's no use trying" or "what's the point?")
  • indirect statements or written essays about death or suicide ("I want to disappear," "there's no way out" or "I can't go on") as well as more direct suicidal statements ("I've had thoughts about hurting myself")

Penn State's Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) web site offers an excellent online workshop for recognizing students in distress; the workshop includes video role plays of student-professor interactions to assist you with this process. To learn more about the workshop, click here to go to CAPS. You will also find information on How to Refer Students below.

If you are looking for more general guidelines regarding how to handle potentially difficult classroom situations, visit this excellent page from Hobart and William Smith Colleges on Tips for Managing Emotionally-Laden Classroom Discussions.

Finally, you may also want to consider adding a mental health statement to your syllabi.  For more information, view our Faculty Guidelines for Mental Health Statement on Syllabi.

Consultation with Counseling Services

Faculty, staff, parents, and concerned others may consult with Counseling Services if they believe a student is in distress and they are uncertain how to help. If you have concerns about a student's emotional functioning or behavior, including alcohol use, depression or anxiety, aggression, unusual behavior, or overall psychological well-being, we encourage you to speak with a Counseling Services professional staff member. One of our staff psychologists is always on-call during weekday business hours (Mon & Thurs, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Tues, Wed, & Fri, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.).  To consult with Counseling Services, call our office at 585-245-5716 and ask to speak with the counselor on-call. The on-call counselor will ask for specific information about the situation in order to help you determine how to proceed.  [NOTE: If you reach voice mail during the above business hours, please leave a message and we will respond to you as soon as possible.]

In the event of a potential psychological crisis situation, the on-call counselor is designated to assist with the response process. The on-call counselor has a limited availability to meet with students on a same-day basis when appropriate (or to make other appropriate arrangements).  These same-day crisis services are designed to assist students who are confronting life-threatening circumstances, current or recent traumatic crises, and/or other serious mental illness.

Some examples of the above include:

  • current thoughts of suicide
  • current thoughts about hurting another person
  • recent assault or abuse
  • knowledge of another person being abused or assaulted
  • hallucinations or delusions
  • recent major loss, such as death of a loved one
  • witnessing or experiencing a recent traumatic event

For more information on responding to mental health crises and emergencies which occur when our office is closed, please go to the Health & Counseling Emergency Information page.  Alternatively, Life Line, a local hotline service offered through the Health Association, provides 24 hour consultation, referral, suicide hotline, and other services. Contact Life Line toll-free at 1-800-310-1160.  Finally, you may also find it useful to review this suicide risk questionnaire, ACT now to stop a suicide.

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How to Refer

Guidelines for Helpful Interactions

Once you identify a student who is experiencing a pattern of the above symptoms, you must decide whether or not to confront that student. Whether you are a faculty/staff member or a parent, if you do choose to speak with the student, the following are some guidelines for your interaction:

  • Talk to the student in private.
  • Express your concern for the student in a direct, straightforward manner, focusing on the specific behaviors which are causing your concern.
  • Listen carefully, asking open-ended questions; avoid criticizing or sounding judgmental.
  • Try not to make agreements or bargains with the student that isolate you in dealing with the problem (e.g., promising to keep what they have said a secret).
  • If appropriate, discuss a possible referral to Counseling Services. Our services are confidential and for all students (see below for more information).
  • Remember that the student has the right to accept, think over, or refuse your recommendations.
  • If the student resists help and you are still concerned, it may be helpful for you to consult with a Counseling Services professional staff member; call our office at 585-245-5716 to request a consultation.
  • In a crisis, it is most important to remain calm and to make sure the student is safe.
  • For more information about helping a student with specific issues, visit our Helping Others page.

3 Important Things to Remember When Referring to Counseling Services:

1)  Encourage the student to call Counseling Services at 585-245-5716 to schedule an appointment.  Wait time for an initial MEETing appointment is usually within 1-2 weeks, although a counselor can arrange for a same-day/more immediate appointments in crisis situations (see above).  NOTE:  Although you may place the call to our office while the student is with you, the student will need to schedule his/her own appointment.

2)  In the case of a mental health crisis which occurs during business hours, call 585-245-5716 and let our secretary know that you need assistance with a crisis situation; our secretary will then connect with our counselor on call or have that counselor get back to you as soon as possible. For information on how to respond to crises which occur outside of business hours, go to the Health & Counseling Emergency Information page.

3)  If you are concerned about a student but are uncertain about the appropriateness of a referral, feel free to call Counseling Services and speak with a member of our professional staff.

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What to Do if a Student is Reluctant to Seek Help

While it is important to care about the emotional well being of students, we cannot make their decisions for them, and counseling is always a personal choice. Nevertheless, you can assist a student who is ambivalent about seeking professional help in a number of ways.

  • Normalize the process of pursuing counseling. This may be especially helpful for students whose cultural backgrounds may include differing views of mental health treatment.
  • Reassure the student that you do not view him or her as "crazy."
  • Let the student know that no problem is too big or too small for treatment.
  • Inform the student that he or she can make an appointment to speak to a counselor once without making a commitment to ongoing therapy.
  • Remind the student that any information shared during counseling sessions is kept strictly confidential and will not be disclosed to parents, faculty, or other college departments without the student's written permission.
  • Acknowledge, validate, and discuss the student's real fears and concerns about seeking help. Some students may feel that counseling is an admission of weakness or failure; we tell students that it takes considerable courage and integrity to face oneself, acknowledge one's limitations, and admit the desire or need for assistance.
  • Suggest that the student visit our web site as a means to become familiar with the services we offer prior to seeking treatment. The student may be willing to take an anonymous screening for depression, anxiety, eating disorders, or alcohol use via our Online Screening Program.
  • If the student doesn't want to meet with a counselor individually, you can suggest that the student attend one or more of our Stressbusters! workshop sessions, which are held Fridays, 3-4 p.m.
  • If for some reason the student would prefer to seek therapy off-campus, you can refer the student to our Off-Campus Referral Resources page.
  • Consult with us! Review the consultation guidelines provided above.

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Just for Parents

Parents, we know it's difficult to let go; although your job as a parent is to prepare students to be independent, it's a bittersweet moment when they walk out that door and into the world on their own.  You can still help support your son or daughter through the first year of college and beyond. The following are some "DOs and DON'Ts" compiled by our Clinical Director, Dr. Beth Cholette, which she shares during "Leaving Them On Campus," a program for parents offered during first-year orientation every summer.

  • DO remember that there are no "rules," no "right" answers--it depends on what is best for your particular student and your family
  • DO identify past strategies that have worked--e.g., how have you handled conflict with your son or daughter in the past?  Use the same tools now that have worked for you before.
  • DO discuss expectations with your student before s/he leaves for college--this includes expectations about money, grades, visits home, phone calls, etc. Don't TELL your student what to do; rather, engage in a dialogue, including all family members as appropriate.  (For other discussion ideas, see Parents: What Would You Do?)
  • DON'T set overly high expectations--in particular, DON'T tell students "college is the best years of your life" (it may not be!).
  • DON'T try to solve problems for your student. Not only is this no longer practical or feasible, but also it is no longer appropriate.  Instead...
  • DO listen and ask open-ended questions, such as "what do you want to do?, "how can I help", and "what do you need from me?"
  • DO be aware of and suggest on-campus resources, such as reminding students of the availability of academic advising, Counseling Services, etc.
  • DO get help for yourself if necessary--talk to your spouse,other family members, friends, other parents, or seek therapy if you are struggling with your son or daughter's departure.  DON'T place the burden of your feelings on your student!

If you are looking for more information, we offer two book lists, one of Parent Reading Resources, and, to share with you son or daughter, we also offer some helpful College Adjustment Guides.  For additional reading resources, we include a few articles/short handouts below:

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Helping a friend

If you are a student looking for assistance with helping a friend, take a look at our Common Mental Health Issues page, which more specifically addresses this topic.

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Additional Ways to Help

Here are some additional ways faculty, staff, parents, and other concerned adults can help enhance the psychological well-being of our students:

  • Become a fan of Health & Counseling on Facebook (facebook.com/HealthandCounseling) to keep up with updates and the latest happenings in our department.
  • Educate yourself about mental health issues in the college population.  We highly recommend the book College of the Overwhelmed: The Campus Mental Health Crisis and What To Do About It (2005) by Kadison and DiGeronimo.
  • Become familiar with Counseling Services--including services, staff, resources, and programs--so that you can talk knowledgeably with students. Visit the CS Our Services page for more detailed information about what we have to offer.
  • Learn about the benefits of counseling and dispute the stigma associated with seeking mental health services. Encourage students to utilize resources such as Ulifeline, a web site specifically designed for preventing suicide in college students.
  • Seek out and use Counseling Services resources as appropriate. You are welcome to borrow any of our self-help materials, including books, CDs, and more.
  • Serve as a resource person for tragedies which affect the campus community. For more information, review our article on Helping Students Cope with Tragic Events as well as our handout on What to Do If Someone You Know...Is Grieving.
  • Help to spread the word about Counseling Services offerings, including self-help materials and outreach activities. Participate in our outreach programs via your class, department, or organization.  Refer students to our Stressbusters workshops as well as our other Current Programs.
  • Support Active Minds, a national, student-run mental health advocacy group which has a chapter on the Geneseo campus (students and others can join on Facebook by searching for "active minds geneseo").
  • Provide us with feedback by sharing anything you learn about student needs, concerns, or needed programs. Please feel free to call our office at 585-245-5716 or to send an e-mail to Dr. Beth Cholette, Clinical Director for Counseling Services, or Melinda DuBois, Administrative Director for Health & Counseling.

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