What is counseling?
Counseling is the process of receiving assistance and guidance by a trained professional to help the individual to resolve personal, emotional, social, and psychological problems. King University Counseling Center offers a quiet and confidential place for everyone to seek counseling. Individual counseling is sometimes called therapy and anyone at any time can find themselves in need of extra support.
Heather works with individuals dealing with depression, anxiety, stress, fear, relationship problems, identity, self-esteem, eating disorders, sleep problems, obsessive thoughts, abuse, past traumas, grief, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, Christian and spiritual dilemmas, and much more. Heather emphasizes the responsibility the individual has for their own decisions while respectfully allowing each client to set the goals and pace for their own counseling.
Heather utilizes various types of therapy and tailors it to the individual client needs, often using cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectal behavior therapy. Heather also offers EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), which is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective in the treatment of trauma.
Coming to the Counseling Center
What to expect?
Clients of the King University Counseling Center can expect the same treatment they would get if they were to seek counseling from a private agency in the community.
- The building itself is isolated so clients can come and go with more privacy.
- The office manager and office personnel are all trained regarding FERPA and HIPPA regulations about confidentiality.
- The clinical director is a licensed professional who came to King University from a faith based nonprofit clinical practice as well as a private practice.
What about fees?
- Counseling services are free to enrolled students. Students can attend counseling for as many sessions as needed. Employees receive 3 counseling sessions per fiscal year.
- If a student is referred to a service agency outside of King University, then the student will be responsible for the fees incurred there. For example, if a student were referred to a physician for medication.
What happens in an appointment/session?
- Sessions are scheduled by appointment. The staff of the counseling center stays on a strict schedule so their client can expect to be seen at his/her scheduled time.
- At the first session, we ask for clients to arrive 10 minutes early to complete paperwork.
- Clients can expect to be asked what they want to accomplish at the beginning of each session. It is perfectly acceptable if the client just wants to talk, but he/she can ask for more than that as well.
What are walk-in hours?
- Walk-in hours are for convenience and will consist of shortened paperwork and times, usually 15-20 minutes. The need for further counseling will be assessed during the walk-in hours. There may be a wait during walk-in hours.
- Clients do not need to attend walk-in hours to schedule an appointment, walk-in times are simply available for convenience and need.
- Walk-in hours are held in Maclellan Hall 17 every Wednesday 2:00pm-4:00pm and at the Counseling Center on Thursdays from 2:00pm-4:00pm. No appointment necessary.
- Walk-in hours offer a great time to talk with the counselor for some guidance on everyday questions or to find out if further counseling is needed. Those who utilize walk-in hours will be asked to fill out a short, half-page form. This is an informal time with the counselor and is not intended to be a substitute for traditional counseling.
How to get the most from counseling?
People who get the most from counseling have a goal and they are invested in reaching it. These folks know what they want from the process and they think about it between appointments. Because they have clarity about their goal, they also notice more aspects about their struggle to reach it and they tend to be very open and honest with the counselor about how they themselves impact the pursuit of their goal.
What is an attainable counseling goal?
The best goals will be clearly in focus, attainable, small enough to be reached in a reasonable amount of time, and large enough to be meaningful. Examples:
- To raise self-esteem
- To develop a new strategy
- To have support getting through a rough time (maybe after a loss)
- To better cope with an unchangeable circumstance
- To develop or enhance a virtue
- To overcome a habit
- To increase self-understanding and awareness
- To improve a relationship
- To find healing from trauma
Call King University Counseling Center to schedule an appointment (423) 652-4742, email at [email protected], or click here to schedule.