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As
a currently enrolled student at Chabot College, you are eligible to use the
Mental Health Counseling and psychological services. Once you make an
appointment to talk with a Counselor on staff, here’s what you can expect:
For
many students, it's a new experience to discuss difficult personal matters
with a professional. Keep in
mind, there is no “right or wrong way” to present your information. However,
often students begin by saying things like, “So what do I do now?” or
"I'm not sure where to start..." or, "This feels weird or
awkward…” Just relax. It is the Counselor’s job to be your
guide during the process. Like any
other relationship, it can take time for you to begin feeling more
comfortable and at ease with the process.
It will happen sooner than you think.
Scroll down for
more or
click ...
"Make an Appointment" choice, listed to the
left
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Now,
in the past, you may have been able to handle the pressures of college,
work, and personal life alone. Possibly you’ve even tried discussing
situations with friends, relatives, or others. However, sometimes, these
people care so much about your well-being that they become over-involved in the situation and lose their
ability to give an objective viewpoint. The professional Mental Health
Counseling staff are objective and trained to be able to offer different perspectives, and may help you develop new
strategies and solutions.
Generally, your discussion will included information such as the following
as you are helped to clarify your topics and concerns:
• the nature and extent of the problem with specific details
• why it's a problem for you now
• how it interferes with your life and progress at Chabot
• how you've tried to deal with it
• what has been successful and what hasn't
• some alternatives acceptable to you
• goals for behavioral and situational changes
How long, and how often am I expected to continue Counseling
Meetings?
Together,
you and the Counselor will decide on how often, or how many 50-minute appointments should be scheduled, based on your
initial discussion of your problems and goals. Generally you will set up a weekly
meeting time/day, a regular schedule.
During
the 2nd sessions you will begin outlining a plan of action, and
your Counselor will be developing a treatment plan. As a result, you may be assigned specific
activities to improve your problem-solving skills, to reduce your
depression, or to strengthen your confidence, as an example.
It is important
for you to keep your appointments and to be on time:
We
have a very large volume of students who request mental health
services. Therefore, if you are
unable to keep an appointment, kindly give us 24 hours notice. Your Counselor will provide you with a
card and you can always contact the Chabot Student Health Center to leave a
message for your Counselor.
Further,
due to the large volume of students we see, it may not be possible to
reschedule you as soon as you would like.
We have many more student requests for appointments than we have Counselors available,
therefore, two (2) consecutive
"no shows" will result in you having to use our walk-in times
exclusively for the remainder of the semester. If you are 15 minutes late for an appointment, we reserve the right
to take another student during your time and you will have to reschedule.
Your progress toward your self-defined goals usually is hastened
by following the recommended activities between your appointments:
Your
Counselor will work diligently with you to meet your stated goal. These are goals you say you want to meet
(a problem you would like to solve or issue you would like to overcome.) Therefore, your progress will be
monitored and you may receive specific feedback and need to make changes in
your goal or plan in specific situations. This is important because Mental
Health Services are limited to short-term consultations on specific
problems. In some situations, the problem presented may require more
specialized or extended services than can be provided by the Chabot staff.
If this is your situation, you will be given assistance in locating the
proper professional.
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