Counseling

Graduate students usually experience great challenges in their academic and personal lives.  Change is constant, and stress often accompanies these new experiences.

The Counselor’s Office provides a place for students to discuss these changes in a private and confidential setting.  Counseling may help students cope with these challenges and make sound decisions. Services are free of charge. The Counselor follows strict professional codes of confidentiality. Counseling records are not part of School records.

Services

• Individual Counseling
  Individual counseling sessions are one on one with the Counselor. Short-term individual counseling is an opportunity to talk with the Counselor regarding concerns or problems, such as stress, feelings of low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, academic concerns, and substance use, issues with friends and family, or relationship concerns. counseling sessions generally last approximately 45 minutes.
• Academic Counseling
  Academic counseling offers students the opportunity to sit down one-on-one with a counselor to help you improve your academic performance. The counselor will discuss specific academic concerns the student is having and offer suggestions on strategies to improve academic performance or address other issues interfering with academic performance.

Academic counseling can help with: motivation, test anxiety, procrastination, among others.

• Workshops
  We offer workshops, based on the students’ needs, in order to strengthen your study skills as well as support you in your personal development.
• Wellness Program
  This program promotes health and prevents illness by creating awareness of health issues and encouraging healthy practices.  We provide services given by health professionals and certified Instructors that improve our quality of life in a professional and relaxing environment.
• Disability Services
  The School of Optometry is committed to providing students with reasonable accommodation(s) as required by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Accommodations are intended to provide equal access to the education program and students with disabilities should be able to function as independently as possible.

If you need a reasonable accommodation(s), set an appointment with the Counselor for orientation.  You need to complete the required forms as soon as possible (preferably during the first two weeks of each term).  It is the student’s responsibility to request an accommodation by completing the request form and provide the required documentation.

Confidentiality

Protecting your privacy is very important.  This means that the Counselor will not disclose information about you to anyone unless you specifically authorize us to do so through a release of information. This includes not sharing information about you with administrators, faculty, family or classmates.  Information will not be disclosed to anyone except when, in the judgment of the Counselor, such disclosure is necessary to protect you or someone else from imminent danger or when otherwise required by law.