Letter to Parents
Dear Parents,
We are pleased that your daughter or son has selected our university as the place to continue their education. We are certain that they have made a good decision. However, as a result of this decision families go through a significant transition when a son or daughter goes off to college. Students are excited and anxious to test their newfound independence. Parents are excited and anxious that their almost adult children have a rewarding college experience. Both students and parents are in the process of finding a new balance in their relationships between independence and dependence. There are inevitable pulls toward earlier ways of relating for both students and parents as they struggle to find that new balance.
Parents are in a tricky situation. They want to support their daughters and sons by giving them the autonomy that they need to grow academically and emotionally, but they also, understandably, have concerns about any difficulties that they may encounter along the way. Sometimes parents find themselves in a position where they are not sure what they should do to support, and at the same time instill, in their son or daughter the belief in their ability to make good decisions. One source of help is the Georgia State University Counseling and Testing Center.
Our Counseling and Testing Center is available to students who may be experiencing growing pains due to this period of emotional growth and maturation, or in some instances due to more on-going problems. We offer students a wide range of free services, including study skill support, stress management, time management, conflict resolution and career guidance, as well as individual, group and couples counseling. Students bring us many different kinds of issues, ranging from academic or adjustment to college stressors, to roommate conflicts or relationship break-ups, to serious depression. It may be important for you to know that we have a part-time psychiatrist who is available to assess and prescribe medications for students.
Please be aware that our counseling services are strictly confidential. Counselors will not disclose a student’s presence or the nature of the counseling to any other part of the college without the student’s written permission to do so. One of the few exceptions to legally mandated confidentiality would be to safeguard the student’s physical safety or the safety of another individual. The student’s safety thus can take priority over his or her privacy. Additionally, students sometimes give us permission to communicate with other parts of the university in order to help them with hardship withdrawals. We are here to help the student in any way we can.
The Counseling and Testing Center is located at 75 Piedmont Avenue, NE, Suite 200A. A student may make an appointment to see a counselor by stopping by our center during regular office hours, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday, Thursday and Friday and 8:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, except during semester breaks when our hours are Monday to Friday 8:30 -5:00. We make every effort to see the student as soon as possible. Students can usually be seen immediately during our walk-in times and by the emergency on-call counselor if they are in acute distress.
The staff of the Counseling and Testing Center welcomes phone calls from parents who fear that their student is undergoing emotional difficulties. It is difficult being at a distance and knowing that a son or daughter is in distress. The counselors would like to be supportive and will listen to a parent’s concerns. At the same time state and federal law prohibits us from discussing with anyone whether someone in the Counseling and Testing Center is seeing a student as a client unless the student has given written permission to do so.
In some instances a student may require more intensive therapy or more specialized treatment than the Counseling and Testing Center can provide. These students and those who wish to be seen by a clinician off campus are referred to local mental health providers.
For more complete information about our services please refer to our webpage at www.gsu.edu/counseling.
Sincerely,
Jill Lee-Barber, Ph.D.
Director, Psychological and Health Services