Counseling Services: Somebody to lean on

By: Kimberly Tsao

Posted: 5/13/09

If your friend needs an intervention, SJSU's Counseling Services may be just the place.

Ann Brandewie, a part-time licensed counselor for Counseling Services, said sometimes people come in with concerns about a pregnant friend or relative.

"Depending on the person's culture, religious beliefs, we would talk it through and see what the person is wanting or needing," Brandewie said.

In such cases, they might try to get the person to attend a joint counseling session.

"Some groups, they're drop in. You just come," Brandewie said. "Other groups - the facilitator would like to meet the person first to see if this group would be appropriate for them and if they'd be appropriate for the group, to see if it meets their needs."

One such group is the Women's Circle, which is for female students to talk with one another and share their problems.

"Maybe their issue is so specific that they would benefit more from a one-on-one weekly session, versus a group session," she said.

Brandewie said there are two women's groups every semester. Most groups have two facilitators but are limited to six to 12 students.

"It's only so people feel like they can really develop relationships with the people within the group 'cause people go in and out of groups," she said, "and it's not conducive to instilling a lot of trust."

If there is a demand for it, though, they would start a third women's group, she said.

"I think outside workshops are very hard to find sometimes and when they are - they are charged, so I think cost - cost would make a difference," she said.

Students come in, fill out forms and then undergo a 10 to 15-minute assessment counseling session first, to go over concerns, preference for counselors and confidentiality, Brandewie said. Exceptions to the confidentiality rule include harming one's self or others.

Wiggsy Sivertsen, former director of counseling services, said abortion does not count.

"I couldn't call say, Child Protection Services, and say, 'Oh, a student wants to have an abortion and they're going to harm their fetus,'" she said. "I mean, I can't. They'd think I was nuts, you know, because it's not a reportable offense."

She added that therapy is not "a social-control agent."

"It's not for us to say what they can and cannot do," she said. "That's not what therapy is. Therapy is to help students decide. People decide for themselves what they want to do."

Every semester, including summer and winter sessions, Brandewie said students are limited to six sessions with licensed counselors but are granted eight sessions with trainees. The latter, she said, are videotaped, but destroyed afterward.

She said they also do consultations with fraternities, sororities and housing. Counseling services holds workshops on dealing with stress and relationships.

"I think outside workshops are very hard to find sometimes, and when they are, they are charged - so I think cost - cost would make a difference," she said.

In addition, the center assigns one licensed counselor and one backup to be on call every day in case of a crisis during the center's hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays to Fridays, she said. The center also has an after-hours emergency nurse that students can call.

Brandewie said Counseling Services could even refer students to health insurance companies and to places that could provide food, clothing, shelter and information on parenting and adoption. Sivertsen said they can't drive pregnant students anywhere, though.

"But if they had to go to a facility, we'd talk about finding somebody that's a friend who would take them or even a family member," Sivertsen said.

The center employs nine full-time counselors, three educational counselors, two post-doc residents, two psychiatrists and six interns, who are mostly women, Sivertsen said. She said there were 80 students on the wait list earlier this semester.

"It's too unfortunate and too unsettling to not have the resources to help our students," Brandewie said. "I find it unsettling."

Sivertsen said around 65-70 wait-listed students is typical every semester.

"Some people stay on the waitlist because they want to see a specific person so they could stay there a bit longer because that person is pretty scheduled," she said. "But usually, we try to get to people before and then we try to get them into other things, like other groups and things like that. So it just really depends on their schedule and our schedule. Sometimes, other students say, 'I gotta get in to see somebody.' The only time they have is 4:30 on Friday, you know, and we close at 5."

Brandewie said they take people off the waitlist based on their conditions at the time.

"Some people just need to be seen," she said, citing how they would prioritize someone with suicidal thoughts over someone with thoughts about an ex-boyfriend from a year ago.

Then, she said, counselors start meeting with students based on the dates they came to the center.

Brandewie said sometimes they refer people to the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), which Susie Wilson, the former YWCA director, said provides counseling and parenting classes.

"You are not born a good parent," said Wilson, a former councilwoman. "You are made a good parent by your actions, and sometimes you just need assistance."