Why do people seek counseling?

Attending college can have a profound effect on one's life.  It is a time of personal growth and development that has the potential for producing both short and long range achievements.  It is also a period of significant adjustment, whether you are coming to college directly from high school, or as an older adult student who has been away from school for a while.  Regardless of your unique circumstances, you will probably find the college experience to be exciting and stimulating but at the same time challenging, as you are faced with many academic, personal and social responsibilities.  Sometimes finding a way to balance everything you have to do causes distress or interferes with your day-to-day living.





Image:  education.indiana.edu



There are many reasons people come to counseling:

• difficulty concentrating or completing academic tasks
• poor academic performance
• test anxiety
• family or relationship problems
• exploring a career change and/or program change
• procrastination and other self-defeating behaviors/habits
• issues of grief and loss
• difficulty with a professor or another student
• difficulty managing stress
• transferring to another college
• coping with traumatic events
• domestic violence or sexual assault
• depression or lack of motivation
• anxiety
• problems with alcohol or other substances
• issues with eating behaviors and/or body image
• problems with managing anger

In sum, people seek counseling to find ways to better manage their everyday problems.  This blog will address many of the issues that cause people distress. 


QUESTION:  Have you ever sought counseling?  If so, was it helpful?  If you needed or wanted to but didn't, what kept you from doing so?


(c) 2011 Robyn M. Posson