Scope of Service
The Salisbury University Counseling Center strives to meet as many of our students’ mental health needs as possible, ensuring equitable access to support for all enrolled students. As professionals in the field of collegiate mental health, our clinical staff is committed to offering every student the best treatment option for their needs. We reserve the right to determine which students will receive treatment through our services and which students will be referred to other resources that might better meet their needs. All such clinical decisions ultimately rest within our professional discretion. Assistance is provided, as requested or needed, to help students secure referral options outside of our Center.
The Counseling Center utilizes a brief-therapy model to help students resolve or effectively manage a
specific concern or achieve a desired change in support of their mental health goals. Due to theb high demand for our services, the Counseling Center operates according to a short-term treatment model in which the student and the clinician collaboratively identify and address the student’s primary concerns. Consistent with the national average at university counseling centers, students typically average 3-5 sessions during a course of individual counseling. In addition to brief therapy, the Counseling Center offers walk-in appointments and one-time sessions that allow students access to counseling services to explore their needs and receive information about care options in the community and on campus.
The Counseling Center offers a wide variety of on-campus programming including education and support groups, educational programming and events, and consultative support for staff and faculty. Please check the website at Salisbury.edu/Counseling to learn more about our current services.
Common presenting concerns that we address include:
- Generalized and social anxiety
- Mild to moderate depression
- Relationship issues (romantic relationship difficulties, roommate problems, family issues, loneliness, anger, guilt)
- Academic concerns (performance anxiety, perfectionism, underachievement, low motivation)
- Developmental issues ( adjustment to college, life transitions, spiritual concerns, identity development (including transgender affirming counseling)
- Low self-esteem and self-confidence
- Grief and loss
- Body image and mild to moderate eating and exercise concerns
- Uncomplicated& trauma (i.e. trauma confined to a single traumatic incident in adulthood)
- Completion of mandated assessments from campus partners who have set up an agreement with the Counseling Center Director to provide such services
Issues commonly referred to service providers outside of the Counseling Center:
- A desire or apparent need to receive treatment more than once a week or for multiple semesters
- Absence of requisite coping mechanisms to manage reactions to normal daily stressors in appropriate ways
- Presence of multiple and/or chronic issues that significantly impact mental or emotional functioning
- Inability or unwillingness to provide necessary information, to identify appropriate short-term treatment goals, and/or to comply with treatment recommendations
- Psychotic symptoms
- Presence of an ongoing treatment relationship with another mental health provider
- Treatment initiated to fulfill an academic/class requirement
- Students who need specialized services NOT available through the Counseling Center as indicated by:
- Presence of a significant or long-standing eating disorder
- Presence of significant drug and/or alcohol problems
- Requests for assessment and medication to address issues of attention/focus and hyperactivity
- Requests for psychological evaluation to assess for the presence of learning disorders, to grant housing accommodations (e.g. single room, emotional support animal), or for the purpose of employment clearance or other nonacademic purpose
- Services to fulfill requirements for pre-adjudication and/or court-mandated mental health treatment or assessment
- Students who exhibit inappropriate, harassing, menacing, threatening, and/or violent behaviors toward Counseling Center staff
Students who are experiencing a mental health crisis may call the Counseling Center to request a Crisis Appointment. Chronic suicidality and/or self-injury behaviors; history of repeated suicide attempts and/or hospitalizations require a higher level of care than is available from the Counseling Center. Students may utilize Counseling Center services for safety while obtaining higher level care from appropriate providers off campus.
In addition to on-campus services, Salisbury University offers all students access to online counseling through a contract with TimelyMD. Students may access TimelyCare’s virtual 24/7 counseling services from any location.