Brief Individual Therapy

To meet significant student demand for services and use resources most effectively, the Student Counseling Center (SCC) utilizes a brief therapy model. Brief therapy is short-term and focused on helping clients resolve or effectively manage a specific concern or challenge or make a particular desired change. Brief therapy is typically solution-oriented, and sessions are geared towards direct and active interventions to help clients achieve specific goals. Brief therapy can range in frequency (e.g., number of sessions) and duration (e.g., approximately 1-2 semesters). Mental health clinicians meet with clients bi-weekly (approximately every two weeks) over 1-2 semesters. During peak times of the semester (e.g., midterms and finals), sessions may be scheduled every 2 to 3 weeks.

Some of the concerns commonly addressed in brief therapy include:

• Personal Concerns: Stress, anxiety, depression, anger, loneliness, low self-esteem, grief, and loss
• Relationship Concerns: Romantic relationships, roommate conflicts, family distress, social life
• Developmental Concerns: Identity (e.g., personal, cultural, spiritual, sexual orientation, gender identity), adjustment to college, healthy lifestyle choices, decisions, life transitions
• Academic Concerns: Motivation, test and performance anxiety, perfectionism
• Other Concerns: Effects of trauma, assault, abuse, body image, unhealthy eating patterns

Sometimes, a client’s needs fall outside the expertise or resources available at the Student Counseling Center. In keeping with the brief therapy model, clients requiring long-term, intensive support and specialized care will be referred to community resources for ongoing treatment. Similarly, clients whose needs require a particular type of expertise that is not available in the Student Counseling Center are also referred to community resources. The Student Counseling Center can provide appropriate referral options that will best meet a client’s needs, but the decision to engage in ongoing treatment ultimately resides upon the client.

Please be aware that a client’s initial evaluation and recommendations may be redefined after two or three sessions and that a referral to community resources may occur at any time. In addition, SCC clinical staff reserve the right to change a client’s treatment recommendations based on the client’s symptom progression, response to treatment, and access to financial resources.