Counseling & Psychological Services

Outreach services are an integral part of the activities conducted in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services. Our outreach services aim to serve the campus community as a whole by extending our clinical and educational services beyond the walls of the Counseling Center. We offer a variety of outreach services to the university community with the goal of creating and maintaining a healthy, psychologically-minded student population. Our outreach services allow the provision of deliberate, systematic, and creative psycho-educational programming with a multicultural and developmental perspective on prevention, wellness, and student self-help. Such efforts allow us to work collaboratively with students, staff, and faculty across campus to ensure student engagement and success.

1. Support
   1. We are able to come to classes or be present at events and meetings, etc. in order to provide support and care to the WCU Community. We also have our Dog Therapy Program - which is a team of certified therapy dogs that visit campus on a regular basis. Also, upon request and with sufficient advance notice, our therapy dogs can be present at other campus events/programs.
      
      
2. Education
   1. We are able to provide workshops to classes, organizations, meetings, and events. Examples of workshop topics we have presented include stress management, improving communication, resiliency building, and conflict resolution.
   2. For Faculty and Staff, we offer WCU Cares training. WCU Cares is a gatekeeper training program that teaches others how to: (1.) Recognize warning signs and risk factors of distress and suicide; (2.) Assess the level of risk for someone in distress/crisis; (3.) Ask someone if they are thinking of suicide; and (4.) Refer someone to the appropriate resources. Suicide prevention is a community responsibility — the more we know and can look out for one another, the safer the community becomes.
      
      
3. Advocacy
   1. The Counseling Center works to promote mental health services, both on campus and in the WC community, along with raising awareness on mental health issues and reducing stigma. Some examples of our advocacy work: Our annual "Checkup From the Neck Up" Week and Screening Day, attending classes to speak about our services and mental health, participating programs and initiatives on campus, etc. We are happy to collaborate with other offices, groups, and organizations on promoting mental health awareness and advocacy.