Services

The Georgia Southern Counseling Center is where students can go to participate in programs and receive services designed to help them handle day-to-day challenges and encourage their personal growth and development.

About Our Services

For a list of all our services, please look at the menu on the left. Our most frequently utilized specific services include but are not limited it:

• Individual Counseling
• Relationship Counseling
• Group Therapy
• Solution Sessions
• Workshops & Open Groups
• Outreach
• Case Management

The Counseling Center complements and facilitates the mission of the University by providing services ranging from individual, relationship, and group counseling to outreach programming, crisis intervention, workshops and open groups, and academic assistance. Students get the personal assistance they need in a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere.

The Counseling Center is staffed by mental health providers at no additional cost to students enrolled at Georgia Southern.

Why Students Come to the Counseling Center

Some of the most common concern that have led students to use our services are anxiety, depression, relationship concerns, educational issues, self-esteem, personal growth, and loneliness. Other reasons may have to do with stress, concentration problems, life purpose and direction, eating concerns, low self-confidence, sexual identity, decision making, family conflicts, self-defeating behaviors, abuse, trauma, etc.

Counseling can be an opportunity to talk about issues that are of concern to you with an objective person who can help you develop skills and view situations in ways that may enable you to be more effective in managing life’s challenges down the road. If you’re still not sure about counseling, take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions page.

About Counseling Sessions

Individual counseling sessions are typically scheduled on the hour and last up to 50 minutes. The Counseling Center operates on a time limited model, which means that students are eligible for up to 16 individual sessions per year. Counseling can be an opportunity to talk about issues that are of concern to students with an objective person who can help them develop skills and view situations in ways that may enable them to be more effective in managing life’s challenges down the road.

Telehealth

The Counseling Center provides services both in-person and via telehealth. The intake will generally be scheduled via telehealth and during your appointment, you and your clinician will discuss whether in-person or telehealth works best for you. Students do not need to be in vicinity of our campuses to receive telemental health services, however, they must be within Georgia as this is state law.

Tips for Successful Telehealth Appointments

• Choose a confidential location, away from others who can see or hear you. Do not have a telehealth session in a public place.
• Non-verbal communication is important for the counseling process! Seek an environment with good lighting where your clinician can see you well.
• Eliminate or reduce distractions and plan for unplanned disruptions (e.g. a phone call, a pet, someone interrupts or walks in)
• Identified a back-up method (i.e., the phone) for your appointment in the event your technology is faulty.

Confidentiality

The staff at the Georgia Southern Counseling Center adheres to professional, legal and ethical guidelines set forth by the American Psychological Association. In doing so, we maintain confidential records of all counseling. This means that information about your contact with the Counseling Center does not go on your academic record, nor is it released to any other office or individual without your permission and signature on a written release form. However, there are some rare exceptions to confidentiality. Counselors are mandated to report certain information in which there is possible harm to the client or another person, in cases of child or elder abuse, or in the event of a court order. While these situations can happen, they are very rare. It is important to remember that your counselor’s primary goal is to provide a safe environment in which you will feel comfortable to talk about your personal concerns.

Limitations of Our Services

If, after a student has been seen for their allotted sessions and are in need of additional counseling, we will work with the student to facilitate a referral to an outside agency. Additionally, on occasion a student may have needs that are beyond what our agency is designed to offer. These may include chronic or severe mental health problems, or other conditions that may require close monitoring. In such instances, our staff will facilitate obtaining appropriate treatment for the student.

The Georgia Southern Counseling Center is accredited by the International Association of Counseling Services, and its staff adheres to the ethical principles of the American Psychological Association. Our staff is committed to meeting the needs of all individuals regardless of culture, race, gender, ability, or sexual orientation.

Last updated: 2/14/2024