Welcome and thank you for considering the Wellness Center as a resource. We are committed to working collaboratively with the faculty and staff of the College to effectively meet our students’ emotional health needs. We recognize the important relationships you have with our students and we believe that an essential role of our Center is to be a helpful resource to the staff and faculty at KSC. Often, staff and faculty are the first persons to notice that a student may be having difficulties related to their behavioral or emotional health (e.g., appearing stressed-out, being easily distracted, coming to class intoxicated, disclosing personal problems to explain poor performance). In these instances, our aim is to work closely with you to ensure the student is connected with the appropriate resources. Please let us know how we can be of help as you work with students. We look forward to continuing to be available to you in an effort to effectively meet our students’ needs.
Getting Help for a Student
Faculty and Staff – Getting Help for a Student
Faculty and staff play a vital role in identifying students who may benefit from the services provided by the Counseling Center.
Call for a Consultation
If you are concerned about a student or situation, and unsure about how to proceed, call the Wellness Center at (603) 358-2200. A staff member will return your call as soon as possible and help you determine an appropriate course of action. Don’t carry it all on your shoulders. Consultations are an important part of our services.
Another great resource is the Dean of Students. You can contact the Dean directly or ask your Director or Department Chair to bring a student to the attention of the Cares Committee. You can also bring a student to the attention of the Dean of Students by completing the CARES Referral Form, which you can use anytime you are significantly concerned about the personal safety of a student.
Signs of Distress
Signs of distress that you may recognize in students include:
- Excessive absences from class
- Marked changes in hygiene
- Bizarre behavior, loss of reality
- Extreme mood changes
- Listlessness, fatigue
- Impaired speech and/or confused thoughts
- Overt references to suicide
Or you may learn of changes in relationships in students’ lives, which can increase distress. Some examples include:
- Death of family member or close friend
- Difficulties with romantic relationships
- Problems with family, friends, or roommates
Talking to Students
Tips for talking to a student about your concerns:
- Express your concern to the student
- Be specific about the behaviors that are the cause for your concern
- Use “ I “ language that focuses on what you observed
- When reasonable, normalize the student’s reaction (many causes of distress are temporary and appropriate human experiences, and the feelings which accompany them are likewise normal responses that require kindness but do not require therapy or emergency services)
- Ask directly how you can best help them
- Encourage positive action by helping the student define the problem and generate some coping strategies.
- Avoid any temptation to solve the problem
Referring a Student to the Wellness Center
If you think a student should see a Mental Health Counselor:
- Be direct with the student about your concerns and recommendations
- Suggest counseling and support the student to make an appointment
- Offer to call the Wellness Center (603) 358-2200 with the student present and possibly escort the student to the Wellness Center
- Identify yourself/ role when calling. Support the student to speak directly to our receptionist to make an appointment
The Wellness Center staff are available to all staff and faculty for formal or informal consultation about students during our regular hours (8:00am – 4:30pm, Monday – Friday of academic semesters). During evenings and weekends we have an on-call counseling service available to answer your questions at (603) 358-2436.
Things to avoid:
- Do not attempt to deceive, trick, or force the student into seeking counseling
- Do not make anything else a condition of being in counseling, including any part of a student’s academic standing, opportunities, experiences, grading, and granting syllabus exceptions
- Unless it is an emergency, do not escort a student to the Wellness Center without her/his agreement to speak to a counselor
Forcing, tricking, or placing academic conditions on a student to get her/him into counseling is ethically and legally risky, often not helpful, becomes a poor use of time for all parties involved, and has the potential to undermine any benefit that could have come from counseling otherwise.
