FAQ’s and Information about Counseling

How long with counseling last?

It depends on you and your situation. We will assess it as we go along, but normally we don’t go more than 10 sessions. This is considered brief therapy. We may meet weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly – depending on your needs and scheduling. Counseling sessions last approximately 50 minutes.

Can I be a student in my counselor’s class?

It is the practice of Emmanuel College Counseling Services staff not to have clients as students in a class he/she is teaching. This is done to protect both the counselor and the student from any unethical “dual relationship” roles

What if I see my counselor outside of the office?

Emmanuel College counselors generally exercise a rule of thumb called, “You first, every time.” This means that your counselor will not initiate interaction with you outside of the office. If you are comfortable speaking to your counselor in public, he/she will respond, just not initiate any contact.

The reason is that some clients do not want others to know they are seeing a counselor – it is a private matter. For others, it is okay. Since your counselor sees many people and will probably not be able to remember who to speak to and who not to speak to first, the general rule is that he/she will not initiate contact.

Is there a charge for services?

No. Counseling is free for Emmanuel College students.

Can I be a “friend” on my counselor’s Facebook or other social network?

It is the practice of Emmanuel College Counseling Services staff not to have clients as friends on any social networking site. This is done to protect both the counselor and the student from any unethical “dual relationship” roles

Do you see family members?

Counselors will work with the EC student, a spouse or other friends or family members (if they are involved in the issue) but the student will always be the “identified patient.” In other words, the student must always be the person we are directly working with.

My counselor is an intern

The Counseling Services Department is an internship training site for some graduate programs. All interns are supervised by the Director of Counseling and are fully capable of providing counseling services to you. The intern supervisor are bound by the same confidentiality rules that your counseling intern explained to you. Your information will not be shared outside of the counseling/supervisor relationship.

What kind of counseling do you do? What can I expect?

On your initial meeting and maybe the second, we will go over some paperwork and you may possibly be asked to do an assessment or two. We will get to know each other and talk about some of your history.

From that point, it depends on your situation. We will talk a lot about specific things (skills) you can do and practice that will help create positive change in your life.

Please understand - counseling is not a passive activity. If you sit in a counselor’s office for an hour a week and do nothing outside of that, you can probably expect little change. If you are willing to be honest with yourself and your counselor, work hard, and practice outside of the counseling office, you will find success.

How do I file a complaint?

If you have a complaint about your counselor or about counseling services, talk to your counselor about it first. If that doesn’t resolve the problem, go to Mr. Croy, VP of Student Life and present the problem to him.

Reminders

A reminder about your appointment may be sent to you. Whether or not the reminder gets sent, it is still your responsibility to remember your appointment day and time, to come to your appointment, or to notify your counselor if you are not going to make it.

The counselor(s) are very busy, and usually have a waiting list. If you know you are not going to be able to make it for your appointment, please call so someone else may be able to use that time. Mrs. Harper keeps the counselor’s schedule and can be reached at x2881 (706-245-2881 off campus) or

jharper@ec.edu

Missed appointments

If you miss 3 appointments in a row without notifying your counselor or the Student Life Administrative Assistant by phone or email, you appointment will be deleted from the schedule. You are more than welcome to call and reschedule another appointment, but your original appointment day and time may not be available anymore.

Confidentiality

You can rest assured that the content of your session with your counselor will be shared with NO ONE. Confidentiality is the cornerstone of the ethical responsibility of your counselor. The only exceptions to confidentiality are if you tell or infer to your counselor that you are going to do some kind of harm to yourself or to someone else, or if you tell or infer that there is some kind of child or elder abuse, neglect or endangerment taking place in your life or someone that your know of. This doesn’t mean that if you were abused as a kid your counselor is going to call the police and have that person taken to jail. Also, if your counselor is an intern, they will discuss your case with a supervisor.

There is another issue of confidentiality that people get confused sometimes – it cannot always be kept a secret that you are coming to counseling. The people that work in Student Life have been trained in the area of confidentiality and are not to talk about who has appointments, but it’s possible that someone could see you walking out of the counselor’s office and infer that you are seeing the counselor. That is something beyond our control.