FAQs & First Appointment

During college many students seek out the support of a counselor. Some students meet with a counselor once or twice, others choose to continue counseling on a long-term basis. Students initially contact the Counseling Center for a number of different reasons including:

• Concerns about important relationships
• Feelings of anxiety or panic
• Feelings of depression, hopelessness, or suicidality
• Disruptions in sleep
• Sex, sexual identity, or sexual orientation
• Experienced trauma including but not limited to assault and rape
• Eating, weight, or body image
• Drug or alcohol Use
• Challenging life decisions
• Performance or creative blocks
• Motivation and achievement (academic, athletic…)
• Self-esteem
• Adjusting to college
• Adjusting to a new language or culture
• Coping with microaggressions, racism, homophobia, intolerance
• Coping with a physical illness, disability, or injury
• Coping with learning disabilities
• Continued treatment begun at home
• To develop and build upon personal strengths

Prior to your first appointment, you will need to complete paperwork, either in person at the center or through our secure website while on the campus network. All your information is completely confidential.

If you choose the online option, you should complete the New Intake Form if you have never received counseling on campus before and are coming in voluntarily (or for any student being judicially mandated to complete an assessment). You should complete the Returning Intake Form if you have met with an Endicott counselor in a previous year and are not being judicially mandated. Once submitted online, this information is automatically sent to the Counseling Center. You will be contacted by a staff member within one-week day of receiving your information to set up your first appointment.

When you come in for a scheduled counseling appointment, check in at the front desk. Your counselor will greet you in the waiting room and walk with you to their office. The counselor will have your initial paperwork, which will help them get to know you a little better, help you identify some of the things you’d like to talk about, and give you a basic orientation to our confidentiality process.

At this time, your counselor will answer any questions you may have about the counseling process generally and will review the confidentiality policy and the disclosure process with you. The first session is an opportunity for you to begin to develop some rapport with your counselor and to the degree you are comfortable to discuss what is bringing you into counseling. During the first visit, the counselor may ask you a little about your history, how things are going for you currently, and what you’d like to work on going forward.

Counseling sessions are free for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as students in the Van Loan School of Professional Studies program. No insurance is charged, so parents or guardians will never receive any bill.

Participation in counseling is a personal choice. It is up to you to determine how much counseling is beneficial to you. After your initial meeting, you decide if you would like to return for a second session with a counselor. Generally, we meet with students on a short-term, intermittent basis depending on the student's needs. If it is determined that a student needs long-term or more intensive counseling, we will provide referrals to an off-campus therapist.

Referrals from faculty and staff members are a great way to help students connect to our services. Referring, though, does not mean we share information with the person that referred you. Regardless of the referral source, our work with a student falls under our confidentiality policy. Aside from safety-related exceptions, we don’t speak to anyone about you without your permission.

If you know ahead of time that you’ll need to reschedule or if you’d like to cancel an existing appointment, please email or call the front desk (978-232-2106 or blucier@endicott.edu) or your counselor directly. If you forget to contact us ahead of time, it’s OK—feel free to reach out and reschedule when you think of it. You may also get an email from your counselor reaching out to see if you’d like to reschedule. We’ll do our best to get you right back in the schedule, but during the busy times, it might take a week or so for our schedules to align with yours for another appointment.

The fit between you and your counselor is very important. If the fit between you and your counselor doesn’t feel right, you always have the option to work with a different counselor. It might take meeting a few different counselors to find the “right fit.”

If you are worried about someone, there are many supportive resources on campus that you could help them connect with. Although it is normal for all of us to experience distress, sometimes it goes beyond what we can manage on our own. We urge you to share your concerns as opposed to holding them on your own. Endicott is full of caring students, faculty and staff that can be helpful in connecting you or your friend with the appropriate resources. If you reach out to a faculty or staff member they can help you connect your friend with the Counseling Center. You may also walk a friend over to the Counseling Center for that first appointment, or make an appointment yourself to get some more help or perspective.