On the Health and Wellness survey over the past few years, students have expressed some confusion about the precise details of what the Wellness Center’s Student Counseling Services (SCS) offers on a day-to-day basis. Here’s a list of services that the Wellness Center has sent out recently. A few more notes on these services:

  • “Can I only get individual counseling sessions one time in my GC career?” No–you can get the series of individual counseling sessions (4-14 depending on your needs) again the next year.
  • “Do I need to go through individual counseling sessions to get a referral?” No–you can talk to one of the SCS counselors one time in order to figure out who might be a good fit for you and what you’re looking for. Contact the SCS even if you will have trouble coming in-person during their open hours to get a referral; they can find a way to work with you.
  • “Can alumni use the SCS?” No–and this is for legal/insurance reasons. However, if you know you will be leaving the GC soon, they advise you to call them for a referral before you graduate.
  • For Title IX issues: you can talk to Wellness Center counselors absolutely confidentially: they are not mandated to report (mandated reporters are Matt Schoengood of Student Affairs, John Flaherty of Public Safety, or Edith Rivera, Title IX coordinator).
  • Note that counseling can also be in the form of dissertation/academic consultations, where you can talk specifically about stresses and issues regarding your academic work. And, they have walk-in hours!
  • And, from their website: “We are also available to individual departments, to participate in workshops on topics such as dissertation completion”–in case you want to contact them to participate in an program workshop.

Student Counseling Services at the Wellness Center

We’re here to help: free, confidential

Individual Counseling

We work with graduate students to help with all kinds of personal and academic problems, big and small. Don’t hesitate to come in if you want help or just want to talk things over.

Couples Counseling

Keeping your relationship healthy can be a big challenge in the stressful life of a graduate student. We offer short-term couples counseling to help. Your spouse/partner does not have to be a Graduate Center student, as long as you are matriculated here.

Group Counseling

Meeting with other students going through similar challenges can be helpful. Our current groups include Ongoing Challenges of Graduate Student Life, Parenting in Graduate School, LGBTQ and Dissertation Completion. See our website for descriptions of each group.

Dissertation & Academic Consultations

We offer individual consultations to help you with your dissertation or other academic issues. We work with you on the obstacles to progress, and help you develop strategies to overcome them. These consultations have been very successful and popular.

Upcoming Workshops

Our Center offers workshops throughout the academic year, designed to help with important issues in graduate student life, such as working with your advisor, public speaking, parenting while in graduate school, and completing the dissertation. Please check our website for the latest postings.

Walk-in-Hours

We now have walk-in hours during which students are free to come in without an appointment. A staff member will see you for a brief consultation, listen to your concerns and decide with you which services would best meet your needs. Please see our website for details.

Referrals

If you are interested in a kind of mental health service that we do not offer at the Wellness Center, we can provide a referral.  We are knowledgeable about low fee and in-network providers near the Graduate Center with a range of expertise.  We can help walk you through the steps of following up with an appropriate provider.

Website

Our website contains up-to-date information about our services, as well as links to many sites that we believe will be interesting and helpful to you.

To request any of our services or for more information please stop by the Wellness Center Room 6422, call us at 212-817-7020, or visit our website at http://cuny.is/wellnesscenter/

We are open Monday through Friday, 9-5.

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