With the emergence of COVID-19, many ETSU community members find themselves spending more time alone or at home than ever before.
For people seeking support, ETSU’s counseling center offices, located on the 3rd floor of Nell Dossett Hall, will be open this academic year. Meetings with students, however, will be held through telehealth via Zoom or telephone sessions.
The center offers an array of services, from single-session therapy, to ongoing personal counseling, to Let’s Talk opportunities to BucsPress 2.
According to Dan Jones, director of the counseling center, students interested in ongoing counseling should fill out a needs assessment, which is also called an intake.
“Basically, we try to figure out how we can help them and if we can help them, and then we take them into our system,” Jones said.
The intake also helps Jones and his colleagues determine if the student requires a single session or ongoing multi-session counseling.
“Needs assessment or single session can be a gateway into ongoing counseling, but some people just feel like they want to talk to somebody one time,” said Jones.
Let’s Talk is a more informal opportunity for students who may be fearful or reluctant to initiate the counseling process.
“You don’t have to fill out all the forms,” Jones said. “It’s not counseling, it’s not therapy. Let’s Talk is basically an informal thing where you talk to somebody for 15 to 20 minutes, and we just try to help you sort out what’s going on.”
BucsPress 2 is a 24 hours a day, seven days a week health-line for students.
“Somebody could call up BucsPress 2 at two or three in the morning and the BucsPress 2 operative will try to help them figure out how to get through the night and help them figure out to go to the counseling center the next day,” said Jones.
The center also offers informative classroom presentations on everything from stress management or mindfulness discussions to prevention talks. Faculty members who may be concerned about the health of a particular student are also welcome to contact the center for a consultation.
“We’re here to help,” Jones said. “We love working with students, and we’re committed to helping students succeed here at ETSU.”
