Counseling services are provided exclusively to current UNT students. Short-term developmentally-focused counseling is free of further charge, as we are funded through the Student Service Fee. Counseling services are as confidential as the law allows and are not part of your academic or university record. All of our counselors are licensed professionals or are advanced graduate students being trained under close supervision. Our short-term counseling/therapy model combined with the high demand from such a large student body (36,000) requires we set a maximum session limit. That limit is eight (8) sessions maximum per academic year, but the number received is determined with your counselor. This model fits the vast majority of student's issues, and the mean number of individual counseling sessions is between 2–3 sessions. We do not charge for counseling sessions, but we may charge for tests that are used in counseling.

What is Counseling?

Counseling is a collaborative effort between client and counselor where trust and respect is built, they explore problems and work toward finding solutions, including new ways to adjust, think and feel about or react to issues affecting their lives. Counseling helps students to pinpoint problems and understand aspects of the problems that may be improved. Counselors generally help in some of these ways:

• identify negative or illogical thinking patterns that contribute to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, and to develop a more positive outlook;
• explore learned thoughts and behaviors that create or maintain problems;
• regain a sense of control and pleasure in life;
• encourage support from family and friends;
• find solutions to life's problems;
• discover personal strengths and how to use those strengths to grow stronger in other areas.

Student Counseling Services offers students the opportunity to identify the factors that contribute to their difficulties and to deal more effectively with the psychological, behavioral, interpersonal and situational causes of those difficulties. Please note that SCC respects and values all forms of diversity.

Scope of Service and Limitations

There are some other limitations to our services however. After an assessment, we may refer a student to more appropriate services in the community if the assessment reveals that the student's needs exceed what our short-term model and staff specialty/expertise would fit.

Common examples of issues that may suggest referral for more appropriate services include:

• issues of long standing or major mental illness which requires long-term or continuous treatment,
• issues that require a student to need to be seen more than once per week over time,
• students who are judged to be at high risk of harming self or others (and thus need more support and care than the center can provide),
• student issues which requires a type of therapy or approach not within the practice scope of the current staff and therefore we must refer for a more appropriate treatment,
• student issues which suggest they may get significantly worse in short-term counseling or are too fragile for weekly short-term counseling.

Psychological Assessment

Some limited psychological assessments may be used by your counselor as a part of the counseling process but more extensive assessments needed for other reasons will be referred to outside agencies or professionals in the community.

Psychiatric Services

Limited psychiatric services are available on campus by referral from Student Counseling Center staff or physicians in the Student Health Center. These services are provided through the Student Health Center and they have their own fee structure of these services. If a student is unable to schedule an appointment on campus, referrals may also be made to private psychiatrists in the surrounding geographic area who have experience working with college student's responsibility. All fees related to referrals will be the students. We may also refer hospitalization when needed.

Consultation to Students

The Student Counseling Center staff provides consultation and referral information to UNT students who have concerns about a student's behaviors, seek material for class assignments, report to the media, or plan programs. We also consult with concerned Parents and Faculty or staff at UNT about concerns related to a student. When we consult, we are still bound by rules of confidentiality if a student is, or ever has been, a client. Referrals to community resources are made when needed or requested by a student, faculty or staff.

Privacy

It is important for clients to realize that we work very hard to ensure their privacy or confidentiality and do so within the scope of the law. Records are kept highly secure and any videotapes are equally secure and erased soon after taping. Your being a client at SCC is not part of your university record nor does anyone outside of SCC have access to any information you give us. This may only be done when a release of information signed by you or your guardian gives us permission to do so. Our privacy standards are equal to those of psychologists in private practice. However there are some exceptions to confidentiality by law that you must know about, though it affects very few persons. A brief summary of the most common (but not comprehensive list) of these exceptions are

• If a legal subpoena requires, through court order, release of your record.
• If your legal guardian requests your record.
• If there is suspicion of child abuse in any form or elder abuse, we may have to report it.
• You sign a "Release of Information" form allowing us to release information to an outside party.
• Professional exchange of information with other treating professionals as allowed under the HIPAA Law [pdf].
• Internal supervision and quality control, as in professional consultations, in house only.

If in doubt about your privacy (confidentiality) and our policy to protect it, please ask your counselor as soon as you have a question.

Programs (and other things of interest)

• We may have a Certified Therapy Dog (named Dakota) on the premises, so don't be afraid! If you have an allergy (or phobia) to dogs, please let the receptionist know as soon as possible and we will arrange for you to completely avoid them.
• QUITSMART is a smoking cessation program that is administered through individual counseling sessions. Ask for this program if desired.
• Biofeedback and Relaxation Training are new programs we are designing at this time. More information will be available when these are set up. Certain relaxation tapes/images may be available in our Self-Help area of this web site.
• Group Psychotherapy is being offered each semester, and if a group theme is a good fit for you, ask your counselor about it. All persons who join a group must be screened in advance. Click here for current group offerings.

Meet the Staff

(see Meet the Staff)

Counseling FAQs

(see Counseling FAQs)

If you have a question that isn't on this list, please feel free to ask your counselor.