Do's and Don'ts

Do

• Listen and be supportive.
• Express your concern for the person's welfare.
• Try to generate potential options or solutions without pressure.
• Encourage help-seeking behaviors, such as talking to others, or using available campus or community resources.
• Call Counseling Services at (973) 290-4175 to seek advice from a professional Counselor for your friend or for yourself in supporting your friend.
• Get immediate help if you think the person may harm themselves or another. Call (973) 540-0100, the 24-hour hotline at Morristown Medical Center, or 911 for the police and ambulance if you feel the person is at risk of hurting themselves or someone else.

Don't

• Ignore the problem and hope it will go away.
• Judge, preach, or pressure.
• Become a person's only support system.
• Keep a confidence if you feel you are in over your head as a helper, or assess the person as dangerous to self or others.

Common Reasons to Refer a Student to Counseling Service

We would like to encourage you to refer students who are struggling with multiple stresses and personal issues to Counseling Services. The Counselor offers confidential, individual counseling sessions to students free of charge. The Counselor frequently consults with faculty, staff, and students about students they are concerned about.

If you are concerned about any of the students you interact with, whom you feel require additional attention beyond what you are able or trained to provide, you may wish to refer them to the Counselor. As licensed mental health professionals, we are most grateful for your confidence in Counseling Services as a referral source in assisting students. The Counselor views the referral process as one of mutual concern for the individual. Some of the most common reasons to refer a student to a Counselor are as follows:

How to refer when speaking with the student:

1. Please give students positive reasons for your referral. Try to point out the benefits of attending counseling and working toward behavior change or self-improvement. This will minimize the possible stigma associated with help-seeking behavior. If the environment permits, please offer the use of your telephone to make their first appointment by calling 973-290-4175. You may also offer to walk them over to Founders Hall, Ground floor, where Counseling Services is located.
2. We recommend that rather than referring a person to Counseling Services or to a therapist in general, it is helpful to refer to the Counselor by name. In this manner, the Counselor is personalized and not threatening unknown entities.
3. Once a student has made an appointment, you may suggest that they let you know how things worked out. In this way, you demonstrate your continued concern for their welfare. If students wish, they may reveal the contents of a counseling session. The Counselor is bound by confidentiality and may not reveal whether or not someone has sought the services at any time, without their written permission to do so.
4. Due to very high demand for on-campus counseling services, the Counselor is sometimes unable to accommodate all student cases ourselves. The Counselor triages cases on an individual basis and refer some students to off-campus services. Please do not do this yourselves. The Counselor will want to meet and assess students, and become aware of our students' concerns in order to recommend appropriate resources and to follow-up with their care appropriately.

Counseling Services is here to promote student development and to assist you in doing so. If you have difficulty with a student or have concerns for a student who will not seek counseling, please let the Counselor know. There may be other ways to reach out to the student.

Counseling Services has many off-campus referrals available. The Counselor is also available for crisis intervention if a student's safety, the safety of others, or property is in danger.

Please do not hesitate to call the Counselor for assistance at x4175.

If this is a psychological emergency, call the 24-hour crisis hotline at Morristown Medical Center at (973) 540-0100, or call the police at 911.