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Counseling Services |
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© Updated July 2008 |
The Counseling and Student Development Center, a division of the Office of Student Affairs, has as its overall mission the provision of high quality services to promote the academic success and well-rounded development of its students. Our services are oriented toward the individual needs of the students using a whole-person developmental perspective. We facilitate the acquisition of academic, personal, and social pursuits. In carrying out this mission, the Center is responsive to the diversity inherent in our uniquely international and multicultural island community. As a multifaceted Center, we embrace an integrated philosophy which links counseling, learning, testing, psychiatric and training services, as well as collaboration with other campus and community resources. To this end, the Center works as a team of professionals using a variety of approaches, styles, methods, and programs designed to empower students to accomplish their developmental tasks in a positive learning environment. We recognize that our ability to be responsive to the needs of the UH community and the community-at-large is based on a continuous commitment to organizational integrity, professional development, and personal growth. CSDC offers the a variety of counseling services to meet the needs of students in support of their academic, career, and personal goals. All matters discussed in counseling are confidential and will not affect your academic standing. If you are interested in counseling, please call CSDC at (808) 956-7927 or walk into the Center to set up an intake appointment.
Understanding yourself better and making healthy choices can be a challenging process. Students have utilized counseling to address issues related to stress, self-esteem and identity, relationships and isolation, depression, anxiety, sexual orientation, drugs and alcohol, and recovery from abuse. Personal counseling provides an opportunity to set goals, make changes, and develop in a supportive context. If you would like to meet with a counselor, our trained staff can assist you in making positive changes and improving the quality of your life.
Couple's counseling is available for full-time students and their partners. Couple's counseling is available to students whether you are married or not, and is available to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples.
Are you concerned about how you relate to other people? Are you having a hard time making friends? Would you like to meet with other students with similar concerns in a supportive environment? CSDC offers a wide range of counseling groups that allow people to practice different ways of being in an interpersonal context. Our groups are usually led by two counselors and have five to eight participants. The groups meet in the afternoons or evenings and may address men's issues, women's issues, social skills, returning to school, family-based issues, sexual abuse recovery, or other topics in which group members are interested. The groups usually meet once a week for an hour and a half. Call CSDC to see what groups are offered this semester.
Identifying your career interests, deciding on a major, and setting career goals are important developmental tasks during college. However, understanding yourself and gaining knowledge about the world of work are often difficult processes. Career counseling can help you learn more about your career-related interests, personality, skills, and values, and guide you through the decision-making process. Career counseling often includes the use of interest and personality assessments, which requires a small fee.
Students who find themselves experiencing serious depression or anxiety, are unable to control their behavior, or are doing things they do not understand may want to consult with one of our psychiatrists. Antidepressants and other psychiatric medications help many students control psychological symptoms and allow them to be more successful in their lives. If you think you might benefit from psychiatric services, please call the CSDC to make an appointment with an intake counselor to discuss this possibility. Psychiatric services require a fee and insurance is accepted. If an emergency arises for which you need to speak with a counselor or if you are concerned about someone and would like to consult with a counselor, please call CSDC and ask to speak to the counselor-on-duty. There will be counselors-on-duty from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mondays through Fridays (except holidays). If you would prefer to talk to a counselor in person, you can come to the Center and ask to speak to the counselor-on-duty. CSDC does not provide after-hours on-call services for off-campus residents. If you need to talk to someone on an emergency basis after 4:30 p.m. or during weekends and holidays, you may choose to call the "Access Line" at 832-3100. Access Line handles all types of Mental Health Crisis Questions 24 hours per day and can respond appropriately to questions of Suicide, Dangerousness, and other Mental Health Crisis. For a referral to other community resources, you may choose to call ASK-2000 (275-2000). In a life-threatening situation, you may choose to call 911 or go to a hospital emergency room. In the event of an emergency, residents of UH Manoa student housing may contact a Counselor-in-Residence (CIR) through their Resident Assistant (RA) and/or Hall Director (HD). Personal and group counseling are available and free to full-time UHM students. In order to make services available for all students, a session limit of 12 sessions has been established for individual counseling and a session limit of 6 sessions has been established for psychiatric services. There is no session limit for group counseling. Career counseling is free to all full-time UHM students, although students must pay for the cost of career tests. The cost of career testing for full-time UHM students is $20. The cost of career testing for part-time students is based on a sliding scale depending on the number of credits being carried. Career counseling and testing services are also available to non-students for a fee through our Community Vocational Counseling Service. The current fee for career counseling and testing for non-students is $150. UHM faculty, staff, and recent graduates may obtain career counseling and testing services for $50. If you are unsure about your eligibility, you can schedule an appointment for an intake interview at the Center to discuss your eligibility for services or be given a referral for off-campus services. Most of our testing services have fees which are explained on the Testing Office page. If you are a UHM student and would like to receive personal, couple's, group, and career counseling, and psychiatric services, please call (808) 956-7927 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, to schedule an appointment. If you prefer to make an appointment in person, our reception area is in Room 312 of the Queen Lili`uokalani Center for Student Services, which is located on Varney Circle next to Hawai`i Hall at 2600 Campus Road.
If you are concerned about the well-being of a UHM student, a CSDC counselor-on-duty is available for consultation. If you would like to refer a student to the Center, please encourage them to call us at (808) 956-7927 and make an appointment. If you are with a student in a crisis situation, you may call us and/or accompany the student to our Center. Conversations between CSDC counselors and students are confidential, which means that information from counseling interviews and sessions may not be released to anyone outside of the Center without your written permission. In keeping with the ethical code of the American Psychological Association, strict confidentiality is maintained except when, in the judgment of the counselor, such disclosure is necessary in order to protect the client or another person from harm or when a court order is served on the Center.
The following are examples of some self-help websites that may be helpful to you. The content of these websites may not reflect the professional opinions of CSDC staff members; rather, they should be used as a guide for self-understanding and exploration. General Self-Help Information http://ub-counseling.buffalo.edu/vpc.html http://www.apa.org/publications/brochures.html (scroll down to "Your Mental Health") Other Frequently Used UH Manoa Campus Links http://www.hawaii.edu/osa/OSA_Directory.html
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