Research: Students' Perceptions of Need for Personal Counseling Services in Community Colleges

Although the need for personal counseling services is on the rise across college campuses in the United States, many community colleges do not offer personal counseling services on campus. Instead, community college counseling services focus primarily on academic and career advising. The purpose of this study was to survey community college students in North Carolina to determine their interest in and need for a personal counseling center on campus. Participants were 134 men and 202 women, 18–68 years of age. Of the participants, 70% indicated that having a personal counseling center on campus would be “very helpful” or “helpful.” Results are discussed, and recommendations are made for college counselors working in community college settings.     

College Counseling Today: Contemporary Students and How Counseling Centers Meet Their Needs

There is evidence that today’s college and university students are struggling with emotional and behavioral health problems at higher rates than in past generations. This article explores the various ways, utilizing a range of models, that college and university counseling centers have mobilized to respond to these challenges. We examine literature about the characteristics and concerns of the current student generation along with what counseling centers are doing to respond to the challenge of student needs. We describe a survey (N = 408) of members of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors (AUCCCD) and American College Counseling Association (ACCA) that elicited the kinds of services, functions, structures, and organizational relationships found in today’s counseling centers. In addition to confirming the core mission of providing counseling and psychotherapy, the survey revealed widespread counseling center collaboration and consultation activities beyond the counseling room. The survey also indicated a variety of administrative and structural arrangements in the way counseling centers are placed on their individual campuses. Finally, we suggest a framework for planning, executing, and evaluating counseling center and campus initiatives.     

The Case for Comprehensive Counseling Centers at Community Colleges

This article addresses the need for a comprehensive counseling center to be housed on each campus of community colleges. Counseling helps to improve student academic success and retention, transfer, and graduation rates. Current research also illustrates an increase in psychological and emotional disturbances among college students across the nation, which, at times, results in acts of campus violence such as those that have occurred at Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University, Henry Ford Community College, and the University of Alabama at Huntsville. This paper discusses the needs of the 21st century student body that result in the case for comprehensive college counseling centers. Recent legislation related to counseling at institutions of higher education is examined, recommendations are given, and components of a comprehensive counseling center are described.     

A Collaborative Process Model for Promoting Successful Referrals in College Counseling

The need to refer students to off‐campus mental health providers is common in college counseling. Such referrals can be challenging for college counselors who strive to meet students' counseling needs while adhering to ethical and center policy guidelines. In this article, the authors explore the nature and challenges of referral in college counseling settings and introduce a collaborative process model to enhance the likelihood of successful referrals. A case study is provided to illustrate the model.     

The Impact of Prior Counseling on Predictors of College Counseling Center Use

Path analyses revealed that one's tendency to conceal distressing information, social support, psychological distress, and attitudes toward seeking help predicted intended use of counseling services for college students who had and had not previously been in counseling. Prospective analyses revealed that attitudes toward seeking help predicted actual use of the campus counseling center. These findings have implications for campus outreach programs and in‐session work with clients.     

Counseling and Connecting with the Military Undergraduate: The Intersection of Military Service and University Life

The majority of military undergraduates at universities are National Guard and Reserve personnel and prior-service military veterans, all difficult to identify on campus. These students face unique cultural challenges. Though the academic literature primarily addresses disability services and administrative programs often focus on “wounded warriors,” most military undergraduates are not physically or psychologically disabled and can be stigmatized by the “wounded warrior” stereotype. Minimal literature exists on the intersection of military culture with student life and on counseling center services for military undergraduates. This article offers a review of the literature, three core principles of care, and three vignettes of military undergraduates who received support from a counseling center provider, helping them manage both university and military life.     

Practicing in the 21st Century College Counseling Center

Although college and university counseling centers often struggle with misperceptions of their work and their role in the campus community, limited research has addressed this issue. In this article, common campus misperceptions are explored. Among the issues that often increase the misperception of counselors and counseling services include misunderstandings by campus departments about the role of counseling for students, the perception that counseling is often a solution to any emotional or behavioral issue, and the difficulty of avoiding dual relationships with students on many campuses. Implications for campus counseling centers, including strategies for combating misperceptions, are discussed.     

Developing an Eating Disorder Peer Advocate Program on Campus: A Report on the Eating Disorder Awareness and Advocacy Program (EDAAP)

ABSTRACT

This article describes the development and implementation of a peer advocate program for eating disorders and body image outreach on a college campus. Empirical and conceptual literature on the use of peer educators and peer advocates in college student mental health is reviewed. Peer advocate program mission, history, implementation, and training components are described. Learning outcome assessment findings of peer advocate learning are discussed. A counseling center perspective on benefits, challenges, and limitations of facilitating this peer advocate program is shared.     

Walking the Labyrinth: An Innovative Approach to Counseling Center Outreach

This article introduces the use of the labyrinth as one systemic approach counseling centers can use when conducting outreach targeting the college community. The author discusses the labyrinth's history and its recent resurgence in professional settings, summarizes the principles of walking the labyrinth, illustrates its introduction on one university campus, and outlines practical considerations for incorporating the labyrinth in college counseling center outreach efforts.     

Community Consultation and Intervention: Supporting Students Who Do Not Access Counseling Services

Although the severity of psychological problems among college students and the demand for campus counseling services has increased, many students who could benefit from mental health services still do not access them. This article describes Community Consultation and Intervention, a program designed to support students who are unlikely to access professional help despite the best efforts of traditional counseling center outreach. Community Consultation and Intervention reaches into the campus community to intervene by advising faculty and staff who may be the only contact for a distressed student, taking on a nontraditional “student support” role in direct interactions with students, offering advocacy when university systems or other environmental stressors precipitate psychological problems, and providing case management and crisis intervention services on behalf of the university when troubled students are especially concerning and disruptive to their communities. The most novel element of the program—the student support role—is distinct from conventional counseling in that it privileges problem solving, support, advice, and advocacy over focusing on emotions and other traditional mental health interventions. Case studies and programmatic challenges are described.     

Addressing Sexual Assault on College Campuses: Guidelines for a Prevention/Awareness Week

The authors discuss concepts that are related to providing education and training regarding sexual assault, as outlined by the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990, as amended in 1992. Because college counseling center staff members often initiate and plan campus outreach prevention programs, an outline is provided of a prevention/awareness week intervention that is designed to address sexual assault on university and college campuses.     

Chapter 15 Peer Educators:

Eating disorders are a serious health and mental health problem on college campuses nationwide. This article describes an innovative treatment and prevention program for eating disordered college students. Peer educators are used to provide individual, informational sessions to students with eating disorder concerns and workshops on eating disorders to the campus community. They work with the counseling center by referring more serious eating disordered clients and through consultation with a staff psychologist. The roles and functions of eating disorder peer educators are described, and issues in recruitment, selection, training and ongoing supervison are highlighted. The counseling center's role in the management of eating disorders is also discussed. Specific case examples are presented to clarify the peer educator role in working with eating disordered college students.     

大学生思想政治教育心理疏导问题探析

心理疏导工作意在解决大学生的心理问题以及思想问题,并在此基础上做好对大学生正确思想的引导,让他们树立正确的人生观、价值观以及世界观,为大学生积极投入高校和谐校园建设奠定坚实基础。本文首先简单论述了心理疏导的内涵以及心理疏导的诠释,继而对心理疏导在大学生思想政治教育中的重要意义进行了探析,然后阐述了大学生思想政治教育中心理疏导的一般原则,最后阐述了大学生思想政治教育心理疏导途径。     

Providing Psychological Counseling in Community Colleges: Even Greater Challenges and Fewer Resources

Community college counseling is often not well understood in the “university-centric” higher education community. In fact, work at community college counseling centers typically involves an exaggerated version of the challenges found at university counseling centers. At a community college, there are usually vastly fewer resources from the college (number of staff, facilities, and overall financial support), and the student clients often face many more struggles (economic, academic, and psychological). Recently, various professional counseling organizations have begun including community college counselors, and expanded collaboration between those who work at community colleges and at universities benefits all.     

Humor and Healing in College Counseling

Humor is an often neglected but potentially powerful tool in college counseling center interventions. In this article we review potential benefits and hazards of using humor in a college mental health setting along with perspectives on humor’s mechanism of action and distinctions between types of humor. Therapist and client-specific considerations, such as culture and identity, are discussed in relation to the judicious use of humor in individual therapy. Based on our experience employing these techniques at an urban, private university counseling center, we make specific recommendations for the application of humor in therapy, the counseling center environment, and outreach materials.     

Rates and Predictors of Counseling Center Use Among College Students of Color

A comparison of institutional enrollment data and counseling center service utilization data at 66 universities showed that neither ethnic minority students nor European American students under‐ or overutilized counseling services (Study 1). Data from Study 2 examining students in the general campus bodies at 45 institutions indicated that utilization of counseling center services for students of various ethnicities was predicted by the ethnic composition of the counseling center staff. Among students of color, utilization of campus counseling services was predicted by greater psychological distress, less family support, and a history of previous psychological problems.     

Career Placement Concerns of International Graduate Students: A Qualitative Study

This qualitative study investigates the career placement concerns of international graduate students returning to their home countries, heading to other countries, or remaining in the United States after their education. Using a phenomenological framework, structured interviews were conducted with 24 participants (i.e., 18 international students, 1 naturalized status student, 3 faculty members, and 2 career counselors). Assertions that emerged suggested that the students possess diverse career plans influenced by numerous unique factors. Major, gender, and geography were not salient factors affecting the students' career placement needs. Students used contacts in their academic fields far more than they used campus career services, due to negative perceptions of or limited services that the center could provide. Based on these findings, more outreach to the international student community and collaboration between the career counseling and placement center and other campus departments are recommended.     

基于大学生思想政治教育的高校校园文化建设浅析——以校园舍区文化、网络文化、制度文化建设为例

基于大学生思想政治教育加强校园文化建设,对高校人才培养工作具有重要意义。笔者从校园舍区文化、网络文化和制度文化三个角度着眼,分析了校园文化的建设思路和在大学生思想政治教育中的重要作用。     

Communication Between College Counselors and Academic Faculty When Supervising Graduate Student Trainees

College counseling centers play an important role in the training and supervision of counselor trainees. This article addresses the importance of communication between college counselors and academic counseling program faculty when college counselors supervise graduate students from academic counseling programs. As the authors discuss, effective communication contributes to positive and productive training experiences for graduate student trainees. Suggestions are offered for successful communication between counseling center staff and program faculty.     

高校辅导员如何胜任大学生心理辅导

心理辅导的胜任特征是高校辅导员履行大学生心理健康教育职能的关键因素。当前高校辅导员应具备的心理辅导胜任特征在知识、技能、自我概念、特质和动机五个方面都有其特殊的要求。由于心理辅导胜任特征良莠不齐的缘故,目前高校辅导员履行大学生心理辅导职能的状况并不理想。我们建议从完善选聘机制、加大培训力度和强化绩效管理几个方面采取有效措施改善高校辅导员的心理辅导胜任特征。