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Therapy For College Students
I’m so glad you found your way here.
When we’re not feeling great, it can be especially hard to reach out for help. The fact that you’re reading this is awesome and I want to start by giving you major props. GREAT JOB.
If you’re reading this, it is possible that you’re having a hard time or that something is hurting in your life. Something is not quite working or you feel stuck.
Did you know that a lot of people seek counseling for the first time when they go away to college? Does that surprise you?
First, you’re not alone. Let me break down why it’s so common to seek counseling support after high school.
Here are some of the major reasons we seek support in the college and young adult years.
1. Living Away From Home: For the first time in our lives, we’re living away from home. "But Janelle, I was really excited to move away from home! So why am I not doing so well?" It can be both exciting and challenging. 2. Increased Freedom: We love the increased freedom and independence that comes with living away from home, but that also means that we are managing things ON OUR OWN for the first time. Studying, getting motivated (w/out a parent to help us get motivated), nutrition, laundry, sleep schedule, finances, and stress management, just to name a few. 3. Loss of Former Safe Spaces: We may not have access to the former places that were our “safe spaces.” When you had a bad day in high school, where did you go? Your cozy room? Your favorite coffee shop? Your best friend’s house? When you had a bad day in high school, who did you turn to for support? Your parents? Your best friend who you have known since kindergarten? In college, not only can we have a hard time locating a safe space to lick our wounds, but also finding people that truly know us where we feel safe to open up (as many friendships in college are new friendships that have not yet been tested over time). 4. Classes Get a Heck of a Lot Harder: We may notice some learning or processing pieces for the first time and are: 1) having a hard time keeping up or 2) having a hard time getting motivated without external accountability. Did you know that ADHD is often diagnosed for the first time in the college years? 5. College Nutrition: College nutrition options (or lack of nutrition, ahem) may be messing with our mood. Yup, our mood is super dependent on the food that we are putting in our bodies. 6. Pressure to Keep Up with the Party Scene: Increased substance use may also be messing with our mood stability. 7. Pressure to Find Forever Friends: I can’t tell you how many times I hear college students put pressure on themselves to find their bridesmaids in college - in the first month of college. Deep friendships are built over time. Sometimes we panic when we feel like we haven’t formed these friendships in a matter of months. 8. Bottling Up Emotions: We may bottle up emotions, as we are now living with other people 24/7 and have lost access to private spaces to release and process our emotions and thoughts. 9. FOMO: We may experience increased FOMO, as we are now witnessing people in our dorms going out without us (if we are staying in), or another guy or girl down the hall dating someone that we were seeing last week. 10. Homesickness: It’s super common to miss your friends and family, the people that really know you and who you have established connection and safety with over time. 11. Choosing to Stay Home for College: We are technically a college student, but decided (for many good reasons) to attend community college. We worry that we are missing out, as we have a front row seat to watch all of our friends that went away to college. 12. Choosing a Career Path: There may be increased pressure to figure out what you want to “do with your life” - but you’re not sure yet. That’s totally normal. 13. Experiencing Shame and Confusion: We may experience feelings of shame or confusion if our college experience is different than what we had hoped for. After all, we have spent YEARS preparing for and applying to colleges. Many people tell us that it will be the best time of our lives. So how do you think we feel when it’s … not? Are we embarrassed to tell people that it’s not the best time of our lives? That we’re homesick? That we may want to transfer to a different school because we aren’t connecting with the other students or culture of the university? That the weather is doing a doozy on our mood and we had no idea that the cloud cover on the East Coast was so gnarly?
These are all really good reasons to seek counseling during the college and young adult years.
It is so helpful to have a safe space to figure out what we actually think about our college experience and check in on how we are doing after high school.
Are you in a fraternity or sorority?
Depending on your college or university, Greek Life may be a big part of campus day-to-day activities.
As a former sorority member of USC’s Delta Gamma, it has been a privilege to provide counseling and consulting services for sorority, fraternity, Panhellenic, and Interfraternity Council members events. Participating in these organizations can be wonderful, but may also be accompanied by unique challenges - whether that’s navigating the recruitment process or sorority/fraternity dynamics as an active member.
Okay, now that we’ve talked a little about what counseling is for, let’s talk a little bit about what you can expect.
1. 50 minutes devoted totally to you where you can talk about anything and everything going on in your life. 2. A safe place where there isn’t any judgment. 3. A confidential space. What you say in the room, stays in the room (outside issues regarding safety). 4. We can meet in person, online, or a combination of both options, whatever is the best fit for you. 5. We can meet once a week, every other week, etc., following your lead as far as frequency of appointments. College life can be very busy. 6. We can meet via Telehealth as long as your college or university is located in California. 7. If you are home on break and want to get started, we can do that. However, if you are going back to school in a different state, we will make sure that you get connected to a local counselor in the same state as where your college or university is located. 8. If we meet for the first time and it doesn’t feel like a good fit, I totally get it. The most important part of counseling is that you find someone that you can open up to about anything and everything. If it’s not me, I will refer you to some of my rock star colleagues and help you get connected.
So what's the first step?
I am here to walk you through every step of the process. See below for a step-by-step guide.
Initial Phone Call
We will go over a few questions and make sure that this is the best fit for your unique counseling goals.
Schedule Appointment
We will schedule an initial appointment. Absolutely no pressure here. Think of it as a “trial run” in which you get a feel for the process.
Good fit?
After the initial appointment, take your time to think it through. Remember, you are in the driver’s seat. It is important that you decide whether it feels like a good fit.
Great job.
Great job taking this super important first step today. I look forward to meeting you. And whatever it is you're going through, counseling can be a place where you don't have to do it by yourself.
Janelle Ault, LMFT