The Counseling Center

Who We Are

As part of the Division of Student Life at Baylor University, the Counseling Center staff also strive to be a transformative presence in the lives of our students, as well as with training our interns.

We are a multidisciplinary staff, including over 20 clinically trained professionals, including 11 psychologists / postdoc fellows and several other disciplines including Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT), Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC), a Registered Dietician. And 5 part-time licensed independent providers.

Our staff have also received extensive trainings in many focused area that include trauma and sexual assault, drug and alcohol concerns, other addictive behaviors, dialectical behavior therapy, eating disorders, crisis intervention and many more.

We are highly invested in our role as a training facility. In addition to our internship, we have had a strong psychology doctoral practicum program for several decades and currently take 4 students a year. We also have 1-2 Social Work interns and a Higher Education Student Affairs apprentice every year. We will be expanding our internship in 2018-2019 to accept 4 intern

Mission

The Counseling Services mission is to facilitate the educational experience and total development of students by reducing mental illness and distress and by enhancing mental health, well-being, quality of life, and optimal human functioning.

Who We Serve

This past year (2016-17) the Counseling Center saw over 1,600 students and provided over 14,000 appointments to eligible Baylor students.

Students that seek our services come from diverse backgrounds and present a wide range of concerns, including relational problems, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, adjustment difficulties, phase-of-life difficulties, bereavement and grief, traumas and sexual assault, academic struggles, attention difficulties, and eating concerns. Typically, we additionally make contact with over 4,500 students through our annual outreach programming on campus.

Program of Care at the Counseling Center:

To effectively fulfill its mission, the Baylor University Counseling Center is equipped to provide assistance for a vast array of student concerns. Staff counselors, including psychologists, social workers, marriage / family therapists, professional counselors, and a registered dietitian provide a range of services in our program of care to address student’s unique needs and concerns: Walk-In Clinic: The Walk-In Clinic is the point of entry for every student who comes to the Counseling Center for the first time.

Outreach: All of our staff contribute to psychoeducational events. We are intentional about getting out on campus and having a presence that supports students and familiarizes them with our services. Outreach programming focuses on reducing mental health stigma on campus and providing education on topics relevant to all Baylor students, such as stress management and suicide prevention.

Consultation Services: The Counseling Center staff offers strategies for connecting a student with the Counseling Center or another support service.

“ Let’s Talk”: Let’s Talk is a confidential drop in consultation service for Baylor students that takes place during set hours in various locations on campus. Workshops: The Counseling Center provides various workshops to address issues that college students often experience. Therapist Assisted Online (TAO): This model of therapy is based on online interactive modules that provide skills and strategies a student can practice during the week while a counselor monitors progress and meets with the student weekly through a secure video conferencing tool. Crisis Management: Students in crisis can walk into the office to be seen by a counselor who will assess the level of urgency and provide crisis intervention. During non-business hours and weekends, students can call the Counseling Center (254) 710-2467 and reach the 24/7 answering service, which will connect them quickly to the on-call counselor.

Group Therapy: The many types of group therapy all share the commonality of people coming together, under the leadership of a trained facilitator, to work on improving their lives in one way or another. Group therapy can be as powerful and impactful as individual counseling, or more so.

Individual: Individual therapy involves meeting one-on-one with a counselor to address specific concerns. Couples: Students are eligible for couples counseling as long as at least one person in the couple is a Baylor student. Specialty Services: Services connecting students with a more intensive program of care focused on a specific mental health concern.

Transition of Care: For students requiring a transition of care, the Care Planning Team explains the process and partners with the student to help find a community psychiatrist, therapist or other services to best fit his or her needs. How the Doctoral Internship Fits

Our vision for the Doctoral Internship in Psychology is to develop health care psychologists with the conceptual and clinical competencies necessary to deliver psychological services in a manner that is effective and responsive to individual and societal needs, both now and in the future.

The underlying philosophy for the training program is a practitioner-scholar model that integrates theory and research into clinical practice.

We believe sensitivity to individual differences and cultures in a diverse society, and openness to self-reflection and life-long learning are necessary to bring these together. The person of the therapist, with a set of cultural / life experiences and unique personality, is an integral part of translating theory and research into practice.

Growth in this comes by attention to the process of our work, and attention to our own personhood. Our philosophy can be captured by the training questions we will ask interns to reflect upon, “Who am I as a therapist?” and “What are the ways I am therapeutic?”

The mission, philosophy, training program, and service delivery opportunities at the Baylor Counseling Center make it a great place for interns to grow in 3 general areas: 1) developing core clinical skills to be a transformative presence, 2) developing an multicultural competence and respect for diversity, and 3) developing professional identities as psychologists and as future leaders in the field.