Outreach & Consultation

The Counseling Center's prevention efforts seek to improve the emotional and interpersonal well-being of Loyola students by providing educational programming, promoting community awareness of mental health, and offering consultation on topics such as:

• Introduction to the Counseling Center
• Stress Management
• Relationship Conflicts
• Grief and Loss
• Body Image
• Helping Skills
• Suicide prevention
• Cultural Identity Awareness

We strive to meet the diverse needs of the Loyola community through outreach and prevention that reflect cultural humility and inclusion. Students and campus partners are encouraged to reach out to consult further about tailored outreach opportunities, tabling events, or to request the presence of a counselor at a campus event that may evoke strong emotional responses. As an alternative, the Counseling Center also has numerous mental health resources that can be shared to enhance campus programming.

We frequently receive requests for Counseling Center staff to attend in-person campus events for the purpose of being available to provide mental health support (e.g., in case students feel triggered during the event). While this is a well-intentioned approach, ethical issues related to confidentiality, privacy, and sustainability of mental health resources make it so that the Counseling Center is not able to provide coverage for all these requests. Furthermore, research shows that students rarely if ever use this support and that it can undermine our broader mission to support the campus community. If you are wishing to submit a request like this, please consider the options below:

1. If event planners become concerned that event content may be triggering to students, you should consult with the Counseling Center for guidance while you are still early in the planning stages. Center staff can provide suggestions to help you organize the event in a way that has minimal potential to cause significant distress to students and can help you develop plans for what to do should students become distressed beyond the point where supportive fellow attendees or other staff can be of help.
2. Counseling Center staff remain available to attend events as panelists where they will have at least a few minutes to speak to participants about mental health issues related to the event and share information about campus resources. We are usually not able to attend events for the purpose of providing clinical services at the event.
3. Given the high demand for services and the strain that attending too many events puts on Counseling Center resources, the Center asks that organizers think intentionally about whether they need a staff member to attend to share this information or whether they can provide this information themselves. Additionally, referring students to the Counseling Center webpage provides them with a host of information about resources and education.

The Counseling Center can also provide a blurb for event organizers to read/share at the event describing various support resources. These include the Counseling Center's 24/7 Crisis Line (410-617-5530).

Thank you for your interest in interviewing a member of the Counseling Center staff. Whether this is for a student assignment/project or another purpose, we strive to accommodate these requests while also recognizing that our staff are at times extremely busy working to meet clinical demand and provide adequate mental health services to the campus community. Just like any “Outreach Request,” please complete the form below to submit a request to interview staff. Before doing so, please note the following:  

• Requests for interviews must be made no less than two weeks prior to the date of the requested interview. 
• During peak clinical times, the Counseling Center staff may be unable to fulfill requests due to limited counselor availability. 
• Interviews will be scheduled for 30 minutes and conducted with a member of the staff knowledgeable in the subject requested. Staff do not complete interviews via email.
• Interview questions should be submitted in advance of the interview, either through the form below or directly to the counselor being interviewed if we are able to accommodate the request. This provides an opportunity for our staff to prepare and maximizes the time allotted. 
• In the form below, enter “N/A” for any questions that don’t apply to interview requests

The above are general guidelines of the Counseling Center. If you have an exception that you would like considered, you may contact the front desk at 410-617-2273.