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Information for Faculty & Staff

How to Make a Referral for Counseling Services

• If you want to make a referral, suggest that the student call or come in to make an appointment.  Give the Counseling Services phone number of 504-280-6683 and location in room 226 University Center at that time. Please note that the student must make the appointment him/herself.
• If you believe that student is reluctant or unlikely to make an appointment on his/her own, have the student call Counseling Services from your office to schedule an appointment.
• If you are concerned about a student but are uncertain about the appropriateness of a referral, feel free to call Counseling Services at 504-280-6683 for a consultation. While Counseling Services staff cannot contact a student at the request of another individual, we can provide additional information to help you address your concerns.

Students of Concern

Faculty and staff members may be in a unique position to be aware of students who may be struggling with academic concerns, personal concerns and or mental health concerns.

Students of Concern

Signs and Symptoms of a Student in Distress

• Excessive procrastination and very poorly prepared work, especially if inconsistent with previous work
• Infrequent class attendance with little or no work completed
• Dependency, e.g., the student who hangs around you or makes excessive appointments to see you 
• Listlessness, lack of energy, or frequently falling asleep in class
• Marked changes in personal hygiene
• Repeated requests for special consideration, e.g., deadline extensions
• Impaired speech or garbled, disjointed thoughts
• Homicidal threats
• Behavior which regularly interferes with the decorum or effective management of your class
• Overtly suicidal thoughts, e.g., referring to suicide as a current option, verbally or in writing
• High levels of irritability, including unruly, aggressive, violent or abrasive behavior
• Inability to make decisions despite your repeated attempts to clarify and to encourage
• Dramatic weight loss or weight gain
• Bizarre or strange behavior which is obviously inappropriate to the situation, e.g., talking to "invisible" people
• Normal emotions that are displayed to an extreme degree or to a prolonged period of time, e.g., fearfulness, tearfulness, nervousness

 Emergency Mental Health Resources

Why Some Students Are Referred Out for Treatment

The primary goal of Counseling Services' two professional staff is to assist students with securing the most appropriate services to address their concerns. When a student presents at Counseling Services with mental health concerns, counselors assess the student's current concerns and conduct a full psychosocial assessment to determine appropriate treatment recommendations. In the course of this assessment, students may reveal information pertinent to treatment which they have not previously revealed to anyone else. Counseling Services staff are trained to distinguish between concerns which can be addressed in short-term treatment (such as is provided at Counseling Services) and those which warrant longer-term or specialized care. When working with students with mental health concerns, the primary goal of Counseling Services is to help students access the services which will best meet their needs. Sometimes, this requires referring students for longer-term or specialized treatment (not unlike a primary care physician will refer a patient to a specialist, if warranted). If a student informs you that he/she visited Counseling Services and was referred out, please support the student in pursuing the referrals provided.

Confidentiality

All counseling services are confidential to the limits provided by state and federal law. As such, Counseling Services staff can neither confirm nor deny that an individual is now or has ever been a client of Counseling Services and no information about a client can be released to anyone within or outside of the University without a client's written consent.