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Below you will find more information about our services. If you still have questions after reading our FAQ, please contact the Counseling Center at 541-962-3524.
Counseling is the process of talking with a trained professional to assist you with sorting out emotional, interpersonal, behavioral, and social difficulties. This process may include individual, couples/marital or group counseling. This process can help you become more aware of yourself and the personal options available to you for effective problem-solving and decision-making.
Your scheduled sessions with a counselor may be the first steps you take to bring about positive changes in your life. Your active participation in the counseling process is critical in reaching your personal goals and greater self-understanding. If this is your first experience with counseling, you are encouraged to discuss this with your counselor.
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Students seek counseling for a variety of concerns. The following are examples of the types of problems common to college students:
Our Counseling Center services are available to all students who have been assessed the Health Service Fee. Local students who have not automatically been assessed the Health Service Fee may “opt in.” Please talk with the Student Health and Counseling Center front desk for more information. Faculty, staff, and parents may consult with Counseling Center staff regarding student concerns.
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To begin counseling, please call or email the Student Health and Counseling Center:
When you first arrive at the Counseling Center you will be greeted by our receptionist and asked to fill out, and submit a few confidential forms, including a brief questionnaire inquiring about your demographic information and personal history. You will also be given a ‘Client Information and Consent Form’ that you will be asked to read and sign.
Your counselor will be informed that you have arrived and you will meet privately in his/her office for your initial appointment which is called an ‘intake’. The intake is a 45 to 50-minute session in which you and a counselor will go over your paperwork, and discuss your reason for coming in. The goal of this meeting is for you and your counselor to get to know one another and develop a plan to address your concerns. Treatment options might involve (but are not limited to) returning to see this same counselor again, referral to a different counselor on our staff; referral to a therapy group, and/or referral to some other on-campus or off-campus resource.
Each person who is seen at the Counseling Center will have a different treatment plan and will thus be seen for various lengths of time based upon their presenting issues, resources, and fit with the services that the Counseling Center has available. However, please know that we are doing our best to meet the growing needs of our students’ with the resources we have available. If you decide to discontinue your counseling, we encourage you to discuss your plans with your counselor.
The Counseling Center does not have session limits. However, because we do not charge for our services, there is often a high demand for them. In an effort to meet the demand and see as many students as we can, we collaboratively work with students to ascertain if short-term therapy (1-10 sessions) would be sufficient to have a positive therapeutic benefit based upon their presenting concerns. If a student wants or needs longer-term therapy, has concerns that require multiple sessions per week, or are in need of a higher level of care, a referral to a mental health professional in the community may be made.
All counseling services are confidential. In general, no information is released to individuals outside the Student Health and Counseling Center without your consent. There are, however, a few exceptions to this rule, as permitted by law and our professional ethics:
If you disclose information to your counselor about a sexual assault, or an interpersonal violence or stalking incident, your counselor will inform the Title IX Coordinator that an incident has occurred, but no identifying information linking you to the statistical report will be made without your consent.
The Counseling Center is open from 8:00 AM to Noon and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday, with the exception of University and national holidays. The Counseling Center is closed for student appointments during the winter, spring, and summer breaks.
We are located on the Northwest corner of campus, on 6th Street and L Avenue, across from the La Grande Police Department. We share a space with the Student Health Center (see “SHC” on the map below).
We ask that you notify the Counseling Center (541-962-3524) at least 24 hours in advance if you cannot make your scheduled appointment. Should you miss two sessions without canceling in advance, your scheduled time slot may be filled with another appointment. We understand that illness and other unexpected emergencies will occasionally require a shorter cancellation period.
If you need to contact your counselor or the Counseling Center, please contact us at 541-962-3524. Since email is not a secure form of communication, its confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. Email may be used, however, for scheduling and canceling appointments. Please also be aware that Counseling Center staff does not routinely access email during non-business hours, and cannot guarantee an immediate response. Therefore, we advise against the use of email to communicate emergency or urgent needs.
If you have an after-hours emergency, please call the Center for Human Development at 541-962-8800 or call 911. Additional “after hours” resources are available on our website HERE, while additional self-help resources can be found HERE. If it is not an emergency, you can leave a message with the Counseling Center and a counselor will return your call.
Our counselors adhere to the Ethical Principles of the American Psychological Association and the American Counseling Association. While a trusting relationship is a key ingredient of successful counseling, conflicts and tensions are sometimes part of the therapeutic process. Should you ever have concerns about our services or your counseling, we encourage you to first discuss these concerns with your counselor. When such issues cannot be resolved through discussion, it is the counselor’s responsibility to facilitate an appropriate transfer to another counselor or service. As a student, you always have the right to raise a concern about your treatment with your counselor and/or the Director of the Counseling Center.
It can be hard when someone you care for is struggling. However, it is very difficult to make someone seek help if they do not want it or feel they need it. Further, counseling with an unwilling client is usually not very effective. Here are some suggestions that might help:
Students occasionally request letters from our counselors for their pets. While we understand that a pet can be an important source of support during demanding times, emotional support animals are not prescribed or specifically recommended by the Student Health and Counseling Center staff. Therefore, our center does not provide letters for emotional support animals.
Sometimes students face eviction, fines, or loss of their animal when they make the decision to bring an animal into their housing without the owner’s knowledge or proper documentation. This is also not a situation under which our staff members will write a letter.
If a mental health professional outside of the Counseling Center has prescribed or recommended an emotional support animal, they may be willing to write a letter that will meet the requirements.
The Counseling Center is staffed by mental health therapists that do not prescribe medication. We routinely refer students to the Student Health Center when they are interested in exploring medication options for their mental health concerns.
The Student Health Center is staffed by Family Nurse Practitioners (FNPs). These providers are able to prescribe medications for many mental health concerns. The EOU Student Health Center does not perform evaluations or prescribe medications for ADD/ADHD. If you have an existing prescription for ADD/ADHD medication, you will be encouraged to continue your treatment relationship with your own provider. For more information, you can contact the Student Health Center at 541-962-3524.
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EOU Counseling Center Eastern Oregon University 6th Street & "L" Avenue La Grande, OR 97850 Phone: 541-962-3524
Monday through Friday 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM (Closed 12 - 1 PM)