Students - Counseling
The primary goal of the Counseling Center is to help you:
- develop personal awareness and skills necessary to overcome problems
- assist with career decision-making
- grow and develop in ways that will maximize your educational experience at Eastern Kentucky University
- learn effective means of relating to others
- understand and deal with your emotions
- set appropriate goals
- make healthy decisions
- resolve inner conflicts
- develop independence
- increase self-confidence
- improve self-esteem
- select suitable career directions
The entire counseling center staff is committed to helping you fulfill your hopes, dreams, and potentials in your journey of life-long learning.
Trained counselors are available to help you work through personal concerns and learn new strategies of dealing with stress. Counseling can provide a means of learning how to achieve personal goals.
Numerous services including individual counseling, screening and assessment, and consultation are available for alcohol and other drug abuse issues. The Counseling Center also provides alcohol and other drug presentations and educational programs for you. Sometimes students may report having substance abuse issues that require more intensive counseling services than those offered at the Counseling Center. In those situations, students will be referred to community treatment programs that provide those specialized services.
The Counseling Center helps with career choice in the following ways:
- Career Counseling Seminar (GCS 199)---a one-hour course that lasts eight weeks designed to assist you in systematically choosing a major and career. The course takes you step-by-step through the process which aids in effective career decision making. You determine the interests, strengths, personality characteristics and values you want to express in a career; determine the careers that would be of interest; learn about the careers; and decide according to your priorities as established in the course. Exercises and interest inventories are used to help you in determining career possibilities.
- Individual Career Counseling---You meet with a counselor one-on-one to go through the decision making process. Career inventories are used to assist you as well as individualized discussions with you by a counselor qualified to assist with career choice. Appointments are made with a counselor by calling 622-1303 or by dropping by Room 571 of the Student Services Building and setting up an appointment. Hours are: 8:00-6:00 Monday thru Thursday, and 8:00-5:00 on Friday.
- Career library---You can use the library in the Counseling Center to obtain current career information to determine if a career is suitable. This option is mainly used if you have narrowed your alternatives considerably and only require additional information about those career options.
Groups are offered throughout the year which focus on the development of effective personal and social skills and the resolution of various types of personal concerns. Common topics include: alcohol and substance abuse, test anxiety, eating disorders, relationship issues, etc. Currents groups being offered are: Men's Issues, Understanding Self & Others, Mindfulness/Stress Reduction, Trauma Recovery, and Shyness/Social Anxiety.
Psychiatric services are available at the Counseling Center on a limited basis. Contact the Counseling Center for more information.
Referral 
When you request services which are beyond the role and scope of the Counseling Center, referral to other
agencies or professionals is provided.
Professionals-in-Training
EKU's Counseling Center provides an opportunity for graduate students in psychology to advance their training. We offer practicum and internship experiences. Practica involve a commitment of two-days-per-week and includes a minimum of two hours supervision. An internship at the Counseling Center normally consists of full-time work for a semester. Funds are available for an internship stipend. We also invite predoctoral interns to consider an externship. Under such an arrangement, predoctoral candidates provide services to EKU students and receive supervision from a licensed psychologist.
Through its support of graduate trainees, the counseling center is able to provide services to greater numbers of students. In addition, the energy of growing professionals-in-training promotes an active, diverse environment within the Counseling Center. When an EKU student comes to the Counseling Center for counseling, they may be scheduled to meet with a full-time staff member, a practicum, an intern, or an extern. We will do everything possible to ensure that a good fit is made between the student and counselor. Requests regarding seeing a particular counselor will be honored whenever possible.
