The role of Bradley University Counseling Center is to provide short term mental health counseling and related services to help Bradley University students identify barriers, improve coping, and achieve personal and academic goals.
Eligibility
Currently enrolled students who have paid the Health Fee are eligible for an initial appointment. The most appropriate form of follow-up care (group counseling, individual counseling, or off-campus referral) will be determined primarily by the counselor in collaboration with the client.
Scope of Practice
In order to use its resources most effectively, the Counseling Center utilizes a short-term model of treatment to assist students in addressing issues common in college settings. It has been found that short term counseling is quite effective with college students, especially when concerns are dealt with at an early stage. Licensed professionals will provide short term counseling services addressing such concerns as listed below. This is not a comprehensive list.
- Mood and/or personal issues: anxiety, depression, loneliness, grief, self-esteem
- Relationship issues: partners, roommates, teammates, classmates, family
- Developmental issues: adjustment, transitions, identity concerns
- Academic issues:motivation, test taking concerns, perfectionism
- Career and future exploration
- Other issues:trauma, assault
Limits of Practice
Some students’ needs fall outside of expertise or resources available at the Counseling Center. The Counseling Center provides referral services either after a triage or initial session, or as these factors become more apparent during the course of treatment. The Center’s counseling staff can provide referral options that are believed to best meet a student’s needs, but the decision for ongoing treatment ultimately resides upon the student.
Some examples of clinical issues that will likely be addressed through a community referral include but are not limited to:
- Students who require at least weekly or more than weekly services for an extended period of time
- Students who require excessive utilization of crisis intervention
- Students who present a chronic, ongoing risk of harm to self or others, and whose symptoms do not respond to outpatient crisis intervention or require specialized services.This includes students with a history of multiple hospitalizations, chronic suicidality, homicidality, and/or a history of repeated suicide attempts
- Student presenting with a concern or disorder that requires expertise or resources not sufficiently available in our center. Examples could include: court ordered/mandated assessments and treatment, forensic assessments, and intensive treatment for eating disorders
- Students who are noncompliant with treatment as defined by excessive no shows, repeated stops and starts to counseling and/or repeated requests to change providers
- Students who attend counseling but fail to follow the treatment plan, fail to make any progress, or are unwilling to set goals for treatment
- Students who engage in inappropriate, harassing, menacing, threatening, or violent behavior towards staff
