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Personal Counseling
The NDSU Counseling Center provides a confidential setting in which students may explore concerns of a personal, academic, or career-related nature; makes referrals; and serves as consultants for faculty and staff. Students in personal counseling can explore a variety of concerns which may prevent them from functioning at their optimum levels.
We are sensitive to the needs of students of diverse backgrounds, cultures, ethnic groups, ages, and ability, and are LGBT affirming.
- An Overview
- Examples of Challenges
- Alcohol/Chemical Abuse
- Psychiatric Services
- Assessment Services
- Personal Growth Classes
Counseling, or psychotherapy, is a professional relationship that focuses
on personal problems. The counseling relationship differs from both social
friendships and patient-physician contacts.
Unlike friends, counselors are able to be objective; they are not involved
in your daily lives. Unlike most physicians, counselors do not give specific
advice or tell you what to do. Instead, they serve as skilled listeners
who help you to clarify issues, discover your true wishes and feelings,
and deal effectively with problems.
In addition to individual sessions, group
counseling and support groups are often available with a focus on
specific issues. If the concerns may be more appropriately discussed with
someone in another agency, the proper referral will be made.
Examples of Challenges
Some examples of challenges affecting students are:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Interpersonal/relationship issues
- Low self-esteem
- Identity concerns
- Crisis needs
- Eating disorders
- Chemical abuse concerns
- Abuse and violence issues
The Counseling Center provides referral services for individuals with alcohol
and other chemical abuse concerns.
Psychiatric Services
The Counseling Center provides on-site consultation with a psychiatrist
or psychiatric resident for NDSU students. Psychiatric services include
evaluation, medication consultation and follow-up visits. Services are
offered at a nominal fee. Students access our psychiatric services by being referred through the Counseling Center staff after first undergoing an initial consultation with a counselor.
Assessment Services
In conjunction with the counseling process, various types of tests and
inventories may be administered, including instruments measuring interests
or personality factors. These are administered when the results may lend
helpful insights during the counseling experience. For certain instruments
a nominal fee is assessed.
Personal Growth Classes
These courses are offered
for one hour of pass-fail credit (look under Education in the Registration
Schedule). Examples of classes typically offered include Study Skills
(EDUC 123), Career Planning (EDUC 124), and Assertiveness Training
(EDUC 125).
The Counseling Center is located at 212 Ceres Hall. Regular hours are Monday-Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm. Summer hours are Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm.
Unless you are in crisis, we suggest that you schedule an appointment in advance. To make an appointment, you may call the Counseling Center at 231-7671 and specify that you wish to make an appointment for personal counseling.
If you have not been here before, you will be scheduled for an Initial Consultation. During this initial session, the consulting counselor will listen to your concerns, obtain information about you, assess your needs, and discuss available resources. Ongoing counseling with a member of the counseling staff and/ or other referral possibilities may be arranged.
If you have been here before and are already working regularly with a particular counselor, the front desk staff will schedule an appointment for you or will have your counselor call you back to schedule the appointment. If it has been some time since you were last seen, or the counselor you worked with before is no longer available, you may need to be scheduled for a Return Consultation.
Students with concerns of an emergency nature can be seen on a walk-in basis. Walk-in services are between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday (7:30 a.m.- 4 p.m. during the summer).
If you are an NDSU student in crisis after hours, or over a weekend or holiday, please call our main number, 231-7671. During the academic year, your call will be taken by our answering service and assistance will be offered. For crises outside our office hours during summer and school breaks, please call the 24-hour FirstLink hotline at 235-7335.
Letter Requests:
(Adapted and modified, with permission, from the web pages of the Texas A&M university Student Counseling Service).
Sometimes students who have been experiencing academic difficulties come to the Counseling Center in order to request a letter "verifying" personal problems that may have interfered with their academic performance, in the hopes that a letter from the Counseling Center will help them get out of academic trouble.
At times serious personal problems do interfere with one’s ability to concentrate on studies. Although counselors want to be supportive when they can, it is important to understand that counselors cannot help confirm difficulties of which they have no prior information or only very little knowledge.
If a student has no counseling record other than an initial screening or a crisis intervention session, a letter may only confirm that the student came to the Counseling Center and disclosed difficulties that may or may not have affected academic performance earlier in the semester. This type of letter is usually not very helpful.
On the other hand , if a student has been seen for ongoing counseling while experiencing these difficulties, counselors are more likely to be able to write a supportive letter.
If you believe you are experiencing personal difficulties that may be negatively impacting your academic performance, and that you might benefit from counseling, it would be most helpful to seek counseling early on, in order to help prevent such difficulties from impacting you later on in the semester.
If a you have a documented disability for which you are requesting or receiving accommodations, please contact Disability Services for assistance. Again, the earlier these services are set up, the more likely it is that problems can be prevented in the future!
We appreciate your cooperation and understanding in these matters.
We discourage people from contacting us via e-mail regarding personal problems. The nature of e-mail is such that we cannot guarantee the confidentiality of your correspondence, nor do we find e-mail communications as useful as in-depth, face-to-face contact. Moreover, we cannot guarantee that we will read e-mail right away or respond in a timely fashion.