Faculty & Staff Guide for Assisting Students and Making Referrals
Role of Faculty and Staff in Assisting Students
Indicators for Referrals, Signs of Student Distress
Guidelines for Making Referrals with Examples
The Role of Faculty and Staff
Most
Faculty and staff members frequently serve as idealized versions of adults for students, an idealization that helps them differentiate him/herself from the family. This creates a unique opportunity for faculty and staff members to be helpful and to guide students at times when personal problems interfere with educational goals.
However, it is important for faculty/staff to recognize that students may be vulnerable to unrealistic expectations of faculty/staff's power to solve complex or long-standing personal issues. In assisting students with personal concerns at a time when they are negotiating their entrance to the adult world, it is important for faculty/staff to keep in mind the gap between one's own wish to be helpful and the limited ability to alter personal problems quickly.
Assisting Students with Personal Issues
You may help the student by:
- Being clear in your relationship with the student about your academic/professional role and boundaries. Demonstrate your willingness to help. At the same time, be clear about the limits of your ability to help.
- Creating an atmosphere in which the student can discuss his/her situation with the aim of reaching a decision jointly on the best steps to take.
- Demonstrating your familiarity with support services on campus. Make the student aware of these options, helping him/her to decide which is the most appropriate to the situation.
- Being aware that your own areas of personal vulnerability may cloud your objectivity or disrupt the maintenance of professional boundaries.
- Respecting that students may feel unrealistically vulnerable to the power that they imagine that faculty and staff have over their lives and futures.
- Appreciating that you may have a special meaning to the student as the only person or only adult in whom he/she has confided. The alliance you establish can be the foundation of the student's confidence in being able to change things for the better.
- The
Indicators for Referral
There are times when a student does not ask directly for your assistance, but you may notice indirect signals that prompt your concern. Indirect signals are more difficult to assess and may be part of a package of other complaints or problems. Sometimes students feel embarrassed about personal concerns and feel that academic or "practical" problems are more acceptable. (For example, a student asked a professor for many extra articles on eating disorders, the first indication that she was worried about her own eating behavior.) A faculty member's willingness to listen fully and to express interest in issues beyond the initial problem gives the student "permission" to seek the best kind of help.
The following list is meant as a set of guidelines, not an exhaustive list. Many of these behaviors may occur quite naturally during the college years. A single isolated behavior may be no cause for concern, but when behaviors occur in clusters, a marked change in the student's behavior occurs, or if a pattern seems to be forming, it likely indicates more than usual distress and the need for a referral for counseling.
Signs of Student Distress
Problems in Academic Performance
- Dramatic drop in grades
- Incapacitating test anxiety
- Problems with concentration, memory, attention
- Sporadic class attendance or protracted absences
- Dissatisfaction with major or with college itself
- Confusion about career goals
Behaviors
- Withdrawal from established pattern of social interaction
- Marked seclusion and unwillingness to communicate
- Disturbance of sleep (decrease or increase), chronic fatigue
- Outbursts of crying or anger
- Increased activity levels (e.g., incessant talking, irritability, physical restlessness, disruptive behavior)
- Extreme loss of appetite or excessive eating or excessive preoccupation with weight
- Marked lack of response to normally upsetting events
- Persistent lying, stealing or other antisocial acts
- Extreme suspiciousness or irrational feeling of persecution
- Nonsensical conversation, indications of being markedly out of touch with reality
Traumatic Changes in Personal Relationships
- Death or serious illness of family member or friend
- Family problems
- Difficulties in intimate relationships (e.g., marital problems, breakup with boy/girlfriend)
- Roommate problems
Substance Abuse
- Excessive consumption of alcohol, drugs
- Pattern of reliance on alcohol, drugs
- Signs of intoxication or being "hung over"
- Detached, non-caring and/or manipulative
References to Suicide
- Statements of feeling hopelessness and helplessness (e.g., that life is not worth living, that problems can never be solved)
- Any reference to personal consideration of suicide, threat, or attempt, should be judged serious. If the reference includes how, when, where, or other specifics of a suicide plan, immediately contact Campus Police 781-736-3333 and The Psychological Counseling Center 781-736-3730.
Guidelines for Making Referrals
1. When you have decided that a student might benefit from counseling services, tell the student directly in a straightforward, matter-of-fact manner. Do not attempt to trick or "lead" the student into your way of thinking.
Example: "This seems to be a stressful situation (or personal problem) which is affecting your well-being (and/or academic progress). A lot of people find it helpful to talk with somone at the
2. Make it clear that your recommendation represents your concern and best judgment based on your observation of his or her behavior. Be specific regarding the behavior patterns that raised your concerns but avoid judging the individual's personality and character.
Example: "You've been missing almost every class this month and seem to have problems concentrating when you are here." [Not: "You used to be such a good student but now you're very unreliable and don't seem invested in your academic work anymore."]
3. Do not rush. Except in emergencies, leave the option open for the student to accept or refuse your referral. If the student is skeptical or reluctant for any reason, simply express your acceptance of those reactions so that the student feels free to reject the referral at this time without rejecting you (agree to disagree). Give the student room to consider the options by suggesting that you can discuss the matter later after taking time to think it over. If the student adamantly refuses, respect the decision, but leave the issue open from your side for possible reconsideration. If you push too hard by insisting, prodding or being authoritarian you may close the door to further communication and the student may feel that he/she must reject the suggestion to maintain his/her autonomy.
Example: "A lot of people feel reluctant about counseling when they first think about it. Let's leave it open for now and we can always talk about it later."
Remember, the ultimate decision to seek help rests with the student and not with the person making the referral. As painful as it is for the helper, some people will be reluctant to do what is in their own best interest.
4. If the student accepts the referral, pay attention to any concerns or questions the student may have about counseling (e.g., confidentiality, being judged "crazy," not being able to solve all problems by oneself). The informational communicated by you and your comfort in making a referral will be important to the student. After addressing the student's concerns you might say:
"We might call the administrative assistant at the
5. Suggest to the student that you are willing to give referral information about the nature of the problem if he or she wishes. If the student is not ready to contact the
6. You may want to call the