Types of Services
The BCC focuses on stabilization and short-term individual therapy and group therapy. We also offer psychiatry and medication management. When students are interested in longer term, exploratory individual work, we offer referrals to off-campus resources. The case manager can help you find appropriate referrals off campus. All services delivered at the BCC will be billed to insurance with no out-of-pocket expense for students. Community therapy services will not be billed to insurance.
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The first visit is called an assessment. You will be asked to come 45 minutes before your appointment to fill out demographic information and questionnaires on an iPad. You then meet with a counselor who will, together with your input, help to determine the best treatment recommendations for you. This plan is tailored specifically to your unique needs.
The BCC focuses on stabilization and short-term individual therapy. Individual therapy appointments are generally 30 or 45 minutes. Therapists will help you with symptom reduction, as well as life skills and coping skills.
Group therapy increases a sense of social integration, a student’s sense of belonging, a sense of “mattering” to others on campus and allows for the establishment of skills to create meaningful social relationships. The more someone has a sense of belonging, the less stressed and depressed they may be. A sense of belonging has also been shown to increase student retention and positive mental health.
Finally, the more one feels they matter to others, that others rely on them and are concerned about them, the more successful they will be. This is especially true of immigrant and first-generation students and these students are also more likely to rely on peers for support than staff or faculty (Stebleton, Soria, and Huesman, 2011).
Students looking for longer term care or specialty care are able to work with our case manager, Vanessa Mena-Gibson, MSW, LCSW. She will facilitate referrals to community therapists, partial hospital programs, and specialty care.
Urgent walk-in hours are from 11 a.m. to Noon and 3 to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Urgent appointments are for students who have an immediate concern or emergency that can not wait for a regularly scheduled appointment. For an emergency after business hours, call 781-736-3785 to speak with a clinician.
Driven by the counseling center’s mission and inspired by Brandeis’ value of community transformation, BCC Community therapists provide free, confidential mental health services at several locations around campus. Community Therapists can offer strategies to strengthen life and coping skills, insight and support, as well as information and connection to additional resources.
Services include:
Students who are being seen at the BCC for therapy are eligible for referral to a psychiatrist at the BCC for medication evaluation and management. In order to access this service, we ask that you are participating in counseling at the BCC.
If you are seeing a therapist off campus, our case manager can help facilitate a referral to a psychiatrist in the community. If you are interested in psychiatry services at the BCC, please speak to your therapist about requesting a medication evaluation. Psychiatry services are billed from the first visit.
