Crisis Counseling

Crisis counseling is available to students who are in severe distress and are faced with challenges that are beyond their immediate ability to cope. This type of counseling seeks to ease an immediate situation which is inhibiting an individual's ability to function in their daily lives.

A crisis may be defined as when a person:

• is unable to sleep or can't stop crying because of a traumatic situation in their lives
• is feeling frightened or is having an anxiety attack
• is dealing with the death or illness of a loved one
• has been physically or sexually assaulted
• is having suicidal thoughts or feelings

Counselors are trained to help people cope with this type of crisis, and to assess the safety of the individual. They may devise a "safety plan" with the student which might include compiling a list of crisis counseling line numbers, lists of friends they feel comfortable calling, going home to parents for a few days, or going to the emergency room if they can't stop thinking about suicide.