Counseling Center FAQs

Counseling Center FAQs

• How do I make an appointment?

  Learn how to make an appointment as a new or existing client.

• What can I expect when I come into the Counseling Center?

  Upon entering the Counseling Center for your first appointment, you will likely be greeted by a receptionist. Please tell the receptionist your name and who you’re scheduled to see. The receptionist will help you get started on the intake paperwork, unless you have already completed it online. If the receptionist is not at the desk, a staff member will greet you and help you get started.

• What will happen during my first appointment?

  Once the intake paperwork is completed, your counselor will introduce themselves, show you to their office, and begin your first counseling session. During the first session, your counselor will explain what to expect from counseling, listen to your concerns, and develop a follow-up plan with you before your session is complete.

• What questions can I expect in my first appointment?

  The first questions will involve the concerns that led you to the counseling center. Your counselor may also ask about your immediate symptoms and experiences and inquire about the specific details. Subsequent questions will cover a wide range of different issues that will help your counselor better understand what you are going through. Although your counselor may ask many questions during the first session, the main focus of that meeting will be to try and build rapport.

  Some example questions include:

  • What brings you in today?
  • How long have you been experiencing your difficulties? When did they start?
  • Is there anything that you think triggered or caused your difficulties?
  • Have you ever received any previous mental health treatment? When, and with whom, and what did it involve? What worked well for you, what could have been better?
  • Do you have any significant medical issues (current and/or past)?
  • Does anyone in your family have a history of mental health issues? Who are they and what do you know about their treatment?
  • What seems noteworthy about your personal history? Has most of your life been good, complex, traumatic? What has your relationship been like with parents, siblings, and other significant people?
  • What’s been your experience in school, academically and socially?
  • Are you questioning or exploring any aspects of your identity (gender, sexuality, etc)?
  • What’s been your experience with substance use (current and past)? Is there anyone in your family with a history of substance abuse?
  • What strengths are helping you? What coping skills or strategies have worked well in the past?
  • Who is supporting you with dealing with the issues you are experiencing currently?
  • What are your hoping to get out of counseling? What goals do you have for yourself?
  • Is there anything else about your background, culture, or identity that you think is important for me to know?
• Is there a cost?

  All degree-seeking on-campus undergraduate students are eligible for counseling services free of charge.

• What kind of services do you provide?

  For a list of provided services, check out our services page.

• How many sessions does the Counseling Center offer?

  The Counseling Center provides short-term individual therapy. Although there is an 8 session limit, only a small portion of students (less than 5%) reach the session limit each semester. Most students are able to address their concerns within 6-7 sessions per semester.

  The session limit does not include emergency appointments, consultation appointments, and group therapy appointments. After reaching the session limit, students will be offered appropriate referrals for care in the community. Students continue to be welcome to use campus emergency and crisis services as needed.

  The type, duration, and frequency of services that the Counseling Center provides for each student will be determined by numerous intersecting factors, outlined here.

• What if I have to cancel or reschedule an appointment?

  Please email or call your counselor directly to cancel or reschedule. With counseling services at Champlain in high demand, students who miss 3 individual counseling appointments in a semester will be placed on the waitlist for additional appointments. However, students are always eligible for crisis services. If notification of a missed appointment is received at least 24 hours prior to the appointment, it will not be counted toward the session limit.

• What if a student would like longer-term or weekly counseling?

  Not all types of counseling problems are best dealt with at the Counseling Center. Students with mental health issues or conditions rising above the level of those addressed by short-term therapy, treatment for severe psychological disorders, court-mandated treatment, or highly-specialized treatment may be best treated by off-campus resources. We also encourage students to continue working with their current psychiatrist, physician, or a mental health provider at home for continuity of care and for access to support when not at Champlain College.

• What if I get referred to the community?

  If a student requires longer-term or more-intensive psychotherapy or specialized care that the Counseling Center cannot provide, we will make a referral to a clinician in the community who can provide that care. If you are referred to a clinician in the community, you will need to use your health insurance or pay out of pocket for that care. We work with local providers to find ones that have openings and that work with the student’s insurance. There are several resources in the community that lower fees for students who cannot afford counseling or centers equipped to see students regardless of ability to pay. Students are also informed about the best ways to get transportation to off-campus appointments. We will make every effort to make sure that referral fits your clinical and practical needs. If the referral is not working for you, you are encouraged to contact the clinician at the Counseling Center that you initially saw to discuss your options.

• What kind of issues do students come to the Counseling Center to get help with?

  Students come to the Counseling Center for a wide variety of reasons. These might include relationship problems, academic anxieties, concerns about gender or sexuality, feeling unusually sad, irritability, sleep problems, eating problems, difficulty paying attention, feeling lonely, suicidal thoughts, worrying too much, and adjusting to college life.

• What about confidentiality?

  Champlain College Counseling Center staff are ethically and legally required to ensure all counseling interactions are kept confidential. No record of counseling is included in a student’s academic file. Exceptions to confidentiality may occur in the case of court-ordered requests for records, mandated counseling, if a student is a danger to themselves or someone else, or where staff are required by law to report current child abuse or elder abuse.

• What is considered an emergency and what is urgent?

  Whereas isolated behaviors may not indicate a problem, students in a state of distress may exhibit a pattern of behaviors including (but not limited to):

  See a list of academic, mental/emotional, and physical indicators of students in distress here.

  Students not in immediate danger but experiencing a mental health emergency might fall into one or more of the categories below:

  • Is experiencing significant, acute, emotional distress or anxiety.
  • Does not feel they are able to cope or be in control of a situation.
  • Is communicating thoughts about suicide or self-harm.
  • Is experiencing hallucinations and/or hearing voices.
• Can I see a psychiatrist or prescriber at the Counseling Center?

  The Counseling Center partners with the Student Health Center for psychiatric medication management. However, psychiatry services on campus and in the surrounding community are extremely limited and we do not have the capacity to manage all students’ medications. We suggest you schedule follow-up appointments with your home healthcare provider well in advance to correspond with school breaks and other visits home. If your home healthcare provider would like to be in touch with the Student Health Center directly to provide additional support, we are happy to do so, provided we have a signed release on file.

• What if I’m worried about another student?

  Campus mental health is the responsibility of all of us. It is vital to reach out to others, particularly those who are isolated or engaged in self-destructive activities. If you have a concern about a student who is displaying behaviors that may interfere with their ability to be successful, or if you are concerned that a student’s behavior or wellbeing are negatively impacting those around them, please let the Care Team know.

  For more information, or to submit a care team referral, visit our Concerned About a Student page.

• Will you write me a letter of support for an Emotional Support Animal and/or a Housing Accommodation?

  In most cases, the answer is no.

  Although all of us in the Counseling Center recognize and appreciate how ESAs and housing accommodations can make a positive difference in one’s mental health and wellbeing, we will only in rare circumstances provide the necessary documentation for students seeking these accommodations.

  We may consider providing documentation if:

  • You have met with a Champlain College counselor for more than one semester.
  • You do not have a community provider (doctor, therapist, or other licensed clinician) who could provide documentation.
  • All other options to improve your mental health have been reasonably considered/tried.
  • You meet the DSM-V criteria for depression, anxiety, or another clinically significant diagnosis and your symptoms cause significant impairment in your ability to function successfully while at school.
• Can I continue seeing my home provider once I get to Champlain?

  Vermont offers a simple path to a limited telehealth registration or license that allows out of state practitioners to treat their patients living in Vermont, including college students. Find out more here.