Counseling
A Message from Counseling Services
Who comes to Counseling Services? Just about everyone. Athletes, student leaders, RA’s, WOW leaders, your Chemistry lab partner, your roommate, your best friend. We work with a range of students from different cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds, students who want to talk about a new relationship or a recent break-up, homesickness, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, and poor academic performance. We also see students with painful, abusive life experiences they’ve never talked about before. Rather than advice-giving, we offer a particular kind of listening and an expertise in human development, along with strategies to support your personal, social, and emotional growth. You might be surprised how much talking with a professional can help. Our services are free, confidential, and available to all currently enrolled students. We look forward to working with you.
Getting Started at Counseling Services
Any enrolled students may contact Counseling Services at 805-756-2511 during business hours to schedule an initial 20-minute appointment. At the initial appointment we will review your current situation and determine how best to meet your needs. We will evaluate if your needs can be met with a short-term counseling intervention (usually 6 sessions or less) or if you would benefit from longer-term counseling or counseling requiring a specfic expertise not available at our center. We may also help you consider off-campus referrals if the wait for counseling appointments is long and you would prefer to see someone more readily available. If we recommend an outside provider, we will work with you to find local counselors with the necessary expertise and who are on your insurance plan or who provide low cost services.
Individual, Couples and Group Psychotherapy
Individual Counseling is available to all currently enrolled Cal Poly students to help them deal with a wide variety of concerns including making the adjustment to college, self-esteem and confidence issues, depression, anxiety and difficulties in relationships to name but a few. Self-care tips while you are waiting for your first appointment.
Couples Counseling is also available, as long as both of the partners in the couple are currently enrolled Cal Poly students. Couples can be married or dating, heterosexual or homosexual. If you have a concern about some significant aspect of your relationship feel free to bring your partner with you to the session so both of you can discuss your concerns with your counselor.
Group Counseling consists of meetings of small groups of students who share a similar concern. There are many advantages to participating in a group. A wide variety of groups are commonly offered each quarter, focusing on specific topic areas such as friendship and relationship issues, stress management, dealing with the loss of a loved one and gay, lesbian and bisexual topics.
Eligibility For Services
- Currently enrolled Cal Poly sltudents are eligible to use Counseling Services.
- Students that have chosen not to enroll for Summer Quarter, but are registered for the following Fall Quarter, may be seen in Counseling Services.
- For couples counseling, both partners must be currently enrolled Cal Poly students.
San Luis Obispo, California 93407