Off-Campus Referrals
Although the counseling center offers brief individual, group, and couple’s therapy, there are situations in which a student’s treatment needs will be best met by mental health services in the community. These include:
- Students who require longer-term therapy
- Students who require psychiatric care and medication monitoring
- Students who required specialized treatment
- Students whose issues demand a level or continuity of care that cannot be met within an academic calendar schedule. The counseling center can only see enrolled students when classes are in session.
A comprehensive list of mental health providers in the Fredericksburg community is maintained by Mental Health America Fredericksburg and can be accessed Mental Health America Fredericksburg. The counseling center staff will meet with the student and help narrow the choices, based on the student’s concerns, preferences, location of the provider’s office, and insurance.
If there are any particular steps to adhere to when scheduling an appointment, we will go over them, but we expect the student to contact and schedule the appointment with the community provider. We do this for two reasons. The first reason is practical. Frequently, when making the initial call, the student may need to leave a contact number and other details for a return call. Second, it is crucial that the student takes the initiative in seeking help for themselves and is ready to commit to treatment.
The counseling center staff will monitor the student until they have attended a session with the community mental health provider. After this session, we request that the referred student come back to the counseling center so we can follow up and address any additional referral issues. Once students have started treatment off-campus, we do not continue to monitor them, but we are available to help in a crisis or provide further referrals if needed.