The Counselors in Residence program functions as an extension of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and aims to address the overall mental health needs of students who live on campus while also supporting the specific emotional needs of residence life staff. The Counselors in Residence serve as therapists in CAPS and as members of leadership teams in the residential communities. Counselors in Residence are confidential resources.
Services in Residential Communities
- Walk-In Consultation Hours: Students who live on-campus can sign-up for day-of consultation appointments. These sessions can be scheduled through the Cowell Health Portal and are 60 minutes long. Counselors in Residence conduct these sessions in their offices located in the residential communities. During these non-crisis consultations, students can address immediate concerns and get connected to further resources.
- Residential Leadership Teams: Counselors in Residence live in the residence halls and coordinate with faculty directors, spiritual facilitators, and residence life staff to create events/programming aimed to address the mental health needs of students.
- Supporting Residence Life Student Staff: Counselors in Residence provide weekly support groups for residence life student staff. These groups build community, empower staff resilience, and reinforce coping skills so that the residence life staff can best support their residents.
Services in CAPS at the Cowell Center
- Individual Therapy: Counselors in Residence maintain a regular CAPS caseload of therapy clients.
- Group Therapy: Counselors in Residence run therapy groups for specific student populations through CAPS.
- Outreach/Programming: Counselors in Residence participate in CAPS outreach events and programming for the entire SCU community.
- Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) and Mental Health First Aid (MHFA): Counselors in Residence facilitate the QPR and MHFA programs at SCU.
Click to learn more about our Counselors in Residence: Clarise Ballesteros, MSW, LCSW, Kristin Tappan, MFT, and Melba Mathew, LMFT.