Graduate Student Counseling Services

Purpose

The goal of personal counseling is to provide you with assistance in resolving the personal and relationship concerns which could impede your academic progress. Our counselors will work with you to help you decide which direct services listed below might best meet your needs, and/or make appropriate referrals to other services with careful follow-up processes. The location of the center and services hours are under General Information.

Eligibility

We offer personal counseling services to currently registered UCSB students. Continuing UCSB students may be seen during the summer for a few sessions with payment of a fee. Non-student spouses or partners in a committed relationship may sometimes be seen 1) with their partner for couples counseling of a short term nature or 2) for a single session under emergency circumstances for assessment and referral out. Currently registered High School Junior Summer Session students may also be seen.

Services

Intake: Your first counseling appointment will be a 30-40 minute "intake" to assess with you what your concerns are and what services could be of help to you.
Crisis/On-call: If you are a student in crisis there are "on-call" hours daily. Consultation to other campus departments, faculty/staff and parents is also available by phone. Potential services and interventions will be discussed at that time.
Individual Counseling: You may choose to see an individual counselor to discuss your concerns. Confidentiality is maintained within the limits of the law.
Group Counseling: You may choose to deal with your concerns in a group setting in order to have the support of others, and learn from the feedback and experiences of others.
Testing: You may wish to take some Interest Inventories or other psychological instruments. This will be done in consultation with your counselor. Standard national tests like the GRE, MAT and Miller Analogies can be accessed through the center.
Personal Development Resources Program: You may be experiencing a lot of stress and anxiety. Stress Peers can offer you help with these issues through the use of audio and video tapes and written materials.
Referrals: Students and faculty/staff may wish to consult with Counseling Services counseling staff for referrals to community practitioners and/or agencies. A student already in counseling may be given recommendations for further follow-up by their individual counselor at the end of the short term counseling.
Internet Resources: Various links to mental health informational resources can be accessed.

Appreciation for Human Differences

The Counseling Services Staff is a diverse, multidisciplinary and multicultural group of professionals. We continually strive to provide UCSB students, faculty, and staff with professional services which demonstrate sensitivity and respect for human differences (e.g., age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, and socio-economic status), as evidenced by a commitment to receiving the additional training and consultation necessary to ensure the provision of responsive and culturally-competent services.

For many students of color at a predominantly white institution, there exist differing values, beliefs, and cultural expectations which may impact the decision to seek support. Issues of diversity, ethnicity, and culture are important subjects of discussion within the counseling relationship. For additional sources of support for students of color at UCSB:

In the past, the helping professions frequently neglected the distinctive cultural realities of women's life patterns, psychological processes, and personality development as female. Women continue to face special barriers to their full development, both as a result of external forces, and of the internalization of inequities. The counseling staff at Counseling Services strives to provide services which are sensitive to, and affirming of women's unique experiences. For more information about sources of support for women on the UCSB campus:

Disabilities transcend all lines of gender, race, culture, age, and sexual orientation. Frequently, there are special social, educational, and physical access issues which impact students with disabilities at UCSB. For more information about sources of support for students with disabilities at UCSB:

While at one time considered a form of pathology, homosexuality is now considered by mental health authorities to be a normal, healthy, acceptable alternative to heterosexuality. Nonetheless, the social stigma long associated with gay, lesbian, and bisexual identities still results for some in the internalization of a negative self-concept. Counseling Services Counseling staff can be characterized as gay-affirmative. For more information about sources of support for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning individuals and their allies at UCSB:

Confidentiality

Your counseling contacts with Counseling Services staff are confidential within the limits of the law. All staff members (professional staff, support staff, trainees, and paraprofessionals) are expected to treat as confidential all of their interactions with students who come to this agency for service. UCSB students employed or in training at Counseling Services have no access to student files. Neither your name nor the nature of your contact with counseling services are to be disclosed without your specific written consent.

Exceptions to this are noted below.
Exceptions to confidentiality may be required by law. These exceptions include 1) where there is reasonable suspicion of abuse of children or elderly persons; 2) where the person presents a serious danger of violence to another; 3) where the person is likely to harm himself or herself unless protective measures are taken; and 4) where release of records is court mandated

With respect to e-mail communication with counselors, students are cautioned that e-mail is NOT a confidential means of communication. Therefore, counseling staff at Counseling Services will not respond to any e-mail communications from students with whom they work in a counseling capacity. E-mail is not the appropriate medium to communicate urgent or emergency information.

Consultation/Outreach

The Counseling Services Consultation/Outreach Program has three primary goals:

The first goal is to serve other campus departments through a systems approach. This approach emphasizes gearing interventions towards groups of people which comprise the immediate environment rather than the person identified as the client. The immediate environment may consist of the person, the primary group, the association group, and the institution. This approach primarily relies on training and organizational interventions.

The second goal is to encourage collaboration between departments as an effective use of staff resources and as a way to strengthen the philosophy of community within the university. Collaboration may occur through program development, training, organizational development, and task force and committee meetings.

The third goal is to ensure the delivery of quality services to the campus community. This involves monitoring the delivery of services through an evaluative process and providing the Counseling Services staff with training and consultation that will enable them to develop the ability to deliver efficient and competent consultation services.

Training

Pre-doctoral training at Counseling Services is for doctoral level students in counseling or clinical psychology. This training is committed to providing professional experience in counseling for graduate students under the supervision of counseling staff. For more information on training opportunities, click here.