Counseling Center
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Sessions
The Counseling Center currently offers sessions that are either in-person or are telemental health (remote) through synchronous video. The initial session is in a telemental health (remote) format for RWU students within Rhode Island and who are also new to the Counseling Center. Subsequent sessions for students can be in-person or continue remotely for students within Rhode Island. Staff and students may request wearing a mask for in-person appointments.
Appointments
Call the Counseling Center at 401-254-3124 Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 5:00pm to schedule an appointment. If you reach our voicemail when you call the Center, please leave your first and last name and cell phone number. If you do not leave this information for us, we may not be able to return your call. During the academic year, appointments are available to eligible full-time RWU students and are at no cost. During the summer months, appointments are available for eligible residential RWU students who are currently taking one or more classes on campus.
Group Counseling
Group counseling is a great way to address a variety of concerns, and a highly effective form of treatment for college students. Groups are led by 1 or 2 counselors and typically include 3 to 8 students. Each group centers on a specific theme and meets weekly for the majority of the semester or for a shorter period of time (e.g., 5 weeks). Group counseling is particularly helpful to:
- Increase positive emotions
- Improve emotion coping skills
- Build relationship skills
- Develop understanding of oneself and one鈥檚 strengths and challenges
- Offer support to others
- Decrease loneliness
Groups are confidential. As a group member, you are in control of what, when, and how much you share. During Spring Semester 2022, the following groups are offered. If you are a student interest in joining a group, call the Counseling Center at 401-254-3124 or visit the Center in the CSD Building near Cedar Hall.
Coping Skills
These groups are designed for students who would like to learn how to cope effectively with painful or strong feelings such as anxiety, depression, or irritability. Over the course of these 6-week groups, participants will learn and practice skills related to mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation. While there will be room to talk about one's personal life and concerns, the group is set up to function like a small class with group leaders teaching skills and participants sharing what it's like to practice them.
Quiet Mind Body Stretch
This weekly drop-in activity incorporates breathing exercises, light yoga poses and meditation to help you cope with stress. This is drop-in so no registration required.
Off-Campus Therapy
If you prefer to meet with a therapist off-campus in your local area, we suggest that you consult with your current provider and/or review both of these referral sites: and . You can also contact the Counseling Center at 401-254-3124 and leave us a voicemail with your contact information if you need assistance in locating an off-campus referral.
Counseling Center Mission Statement
We strive to enhance the psychological well-being of students by providing an affirming, confidential, equitable, and safe environment encouraging self-exploration, reflection, and resiliency. With a commitment to a developmental approach enhanced by a social justice lens, we aim to facilitate individual empowerment and growth through meaningful, healthy relationships and community collaboration.
Counseling Center Diversity Statement
麻豆传媒AV University highlights diversity in one of its five identified core values. As members of the university community, we too endeavor to recognize and appreciate the diversity that exists amongst all of us. In our Center this means we honor all individual differences which include, but is not limited to, age, race, ethnicity, sex, national origin, religion/spirituality, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, and socioeconomic status. This also means that we ourselves are an imperfect, 鈥渨ork in progress鈥 in acknowledging our own assumptions and in striving to continuously learn more about the human condition. This is manifested by our openness to receive feedback and our nurturance of growth and learning for ourselves and others we interact with.
Our views are firmly rooted within a social justice perspective. We recognize that the effects of privilege, oppression, discrimination, stereotypes, and bias are pervasive within individual, systemic, and societal levels. These forces can have profound and harmful influences on student well-being. We strive to be a supportive presence to provide empathic listening, empowerment, and advocacy to mitigate those effects. One of our most important considerations is to minimize potential barriers so all students receive the respect, care, and treatment that they deserve, both within the Center and within the broader university community.
Resources for Black people
Resources for Allies
Resources for Everyone
On-campus Support
Why is confidentiality so important?
When deciding whether or not to see a counselor, students often wonder if their privacy will be protected. In order to share your private thoughts and feelings, it is necessary to trust that what you say will be kept between you and your counselor.
It is important for you to know that any records of your visit to the Counseling Center do not become part of your academic record/transcripts, nor are they made available to administrators, faculty, or staff of the university outside of the Counseling Center. No one, including your family members, has access to your counseling attendance or records.
May I choose to break confidentiality?
In the legal sense, "confidentiality" is something that binds the mental health professional from making disclosure about a client's visit. However, you as a client may talk to whomever you wish about your own counseling experience. From time to time, you may decide that you want to talk about your counseling with a family member or a close friend. That is fully your decision.
Occasionally, situations arise when it might be beneficial to have your counselor provide information or speak to a third party about you. If such a situation occurs, you or your counselor may bring this up for discussion during your meeting together. As you and your counselor consider the potential benefits and disadvantages about sharing this information, you will be better able to make an informed decision.
If you both agree that it would be beneficial for your counselor to do so, you will be asked to sign an authorization to release and to share the information with an outside party. The laws which govern our services require us to "obtain your informed and written consent."
The information to be disclosed may be comprehensive or limited to a specific purpose which fits the situation. No matter who they are for, all consents are in writing, specify who will receive the information, describe what information is to be shared and require your signature.
The Counseling Center follows this requirement with everyone, including your family members, university staff, as well as former or future counselors. You have the right to refuse to provide consent, or to revoke it once it is given.
Are there any limitations or exceptions to confidentiality?
There are three important exceptions to confidentiality that all counselors in our Center must follow. These exceptions are part of Rhode Island state law and cannot be altered by 麻豆传媒AV University or by the Counseling Center.
The first exception concerns protection from imminent harm. If your counselor believes you to be at imminent risk to seriously harm or kill yourself or someone else, the counselor may take actions to protect you or others, even at the expense of your confidentiality.
Second, if your counselor becomes aware that a child (minor) or elder is being abused or neglected, they may take steps to protect that child or elder, which may involve sharing information that you had previously shared with the counselor.
The third exception is that if your records is requested by court order, those records may be shared with the court. This is an extremely rare occurrence.
While all counselors are legally and ethically mandated to follow these guidelines, every effort is made to inform you of your rights and to protect your privacy to the fullest extent possible under the law. If you have any questions or concerns about confidentiality, please ask your counselor or the Interim Director for clarification.
Urgent Concerns
For an urgent concern on aweekday evening (after 5 pm), weekend, or a holiday, we have a service available to both RWU students themselves or any administrator, faculty, and staff member who wishes to consult about heightened emotional distress and/or a mental health difficulty of a student. Simply call the Counseling Center at 401-254-3124 after hours, follow the prompts, and you will be immediately connected to a professional who can provide crisis intervention when the Counseling Center is closed.
Emergencies
For EMERGENCIES, if you are on campus currently, call Public Safety (available 24/7/365) at 401-254-3333. If you are off-campus in the Bristol area, call East Bay Center (available 24/7/365) at 401-246-0700. Options for any student, regardless of where you live, include calling 911, calling 988, visiting a local hospital emergency room, and/or contacting any of these free resources available to you 24/7/365:
General Emergency Resources
- Behavioral Health Link: 401-414-LINK (5465) [mental health concern, substance abuse, or suicide]
- Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741-741 [mental health concern or suicide]
- National Hopeline Network: 800-442-HOPE (4673) [suicide]
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 800-273-TALK (8255); TTY: 1-800-799-4889 [suicide]
- The Samaritans of Rhode Island: 401-272-4044 or 800-365-4044 [suicide]
Specialized Emergency Resources
- Asian LifeNet Hotline: 877-990-8585 [suicide; available in Cantonese, English, Fujianese, Japanese, Korean, or Mandarin]
- Persons of Color Crisis Text Line: Text STEVE to 741-741 [mental health concern]
- The Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860 [available 10:00am-4:00am; mental health concern or suicide]
- Trevor LGBTQ Lifeline: 866-488-7386 or text START to 678-678 [suicide]
Trauma Resources
- Day One: 800-494-8100 [sexual assault]
- Disaster Distress Helpline: 800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746 [coronavirus, mass violence incident, or natural disaster; available in over 100 languages]
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-SAFE (7233) or text LOVEIS to 1-866-331-9474 [domestic violence]
- National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE (4673) [sexual assault]
- Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence Helpline: 800-494-8100 [dating violence, domestic violence, sexual abuse, or stalking]