University of Redlands
To: The Redlands Campus Community
From: Matt Gragg, Counseling Center Director, Ken Grich, Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Jared Rodrigues, Assoc. Dean of Community Standards and Well-being
Date: June 22, 2020
Re: Counseling Services on the Redlands campus
We are pleased to provide you with these updates on the mental health and counseling services that will be available to all students on the University of Redlands campus beginning in late August. The changes and enhancements outlined below are in response to student demand that has exceeded staffing capacity, as well as budget constraints. These challenges required us to look nationally at best practice, and to explore possible partnerships. This work has resulted in expanded on-campus resources and greater access to a diversity of clinicians. Our plan for the delivery of services and support, which continues to evolve, is described below.
Single Session Therapy
What we have found is that many students seeking support need just one session to get through a challenge they are confronting. This type of need serves as the impetus for introducing a single session therapy model in the Counseling Center. This type of therapy is for students with non-urgent issues who have a need that can be addressed in one session. The therapist and student will treat this single session as though it could be all they need. The aim will be for students choosing a single session appointment to have shorter wait times, even during busy times of the semester. Students will self-select into this option and will be limited to two of these types of appointments per semester.
CCS Partnership
This past academic year the Counseling Center made a significant number of referrals to care providers in the local community. In some cases, students declined a referral, choosing to remain on the waiting list because of the convenience on-campus support provides. In order to provide more convenient access for students who need ongoing or more specialized mental health care, the University has established a partnership with a local agency, CCS. CCS was founded in 1978 as Christian Counseling Services. Today, however, they are known in the Redlands community as CCS because they have expanded their scope of practice to include a variety of non-faith-based services. They have earned a strong reputation, in part because of their diverse staff of more than 40 clinicians, including U of R alumni, who serve people of all race, gender, sexual orientation, and economic status.
Starting this fall, and depending on health guidelines, CCS will provide telehealth appointments and/or have staff on campus to provide individual therapy. Their staff will support students who need care that is outside the Counseling Center's scope of services (e.g. long-term therapy), will be conveniently located, and will help manage our waitlist. Though it is not currently in their portfolio, CCS leadership is working to provide on-campus psychiatric support for students as well. Their licensed therapists take most health insurance, including the University’s insurance, and there is a sliding fee scale for unlicensed therapists. More information about contacting CCS will be provided in August.
Chaplain’s Services
Our campus Chaplain is an additional resource available for students. Chaplain Walsh is trained as a Pastoral Counselor and has many years of experience providing counseling support for students. Chaplain Walsh will be available to see students with mild to moderate counseling needs. Single session appointments will be the norm.
Scope of Services and Psychiatric Services
For the past several years, while the Counseling Center has promoted a short-term therapy model, they have tried to support students beyond the scope of this model, referring a limited number of students with more specialized or ongoing needs to care providers in the community. Moving forward the Counseling Center will be adhering more closely to the short-term therapy model in order to be available to more students. (Click here to view Scope of Services)
In addition, for a number of years the University has paid to have psychiatric support on campus one day a week. This practice, however, will not continue. Students who saw Dr. Liwnicz in fall 2019 and spring 2020 have been informed of this change to allow them time to find a psychiatrist near their home to support them via telehealth, or in the Redlands community, with help from Counseling Center staff, if needed.
We recognize these changes are a shift in practice but believe they are necessary and prudent as we work to develop means of support for as many students as possible. We are taking proactive steps to help students find the level of care they need, to include recently updating the referral list available on our website. In addition, as noted above, we have asked CCS to include psychiatric care in their portfolio, and we are optimistic that will occur in the future.
The Counseling Center staff and the Division of Student Affairs remain committed to supporting the health and wellness of the entire University of Redlands community. In addition to convenient and expanded resources on campus, you will also see expanded programs to support wellness broadly. The Crisis Line, available to all University of Redlands students, will continue to provide support 24/7, 365 days per year.
Delivery of Services
Due to COVID-19, the Counseling Center has developed policy and procedures that will allow staff to provide services remotely via a HIPAA-compliant WebEx platform. We will assist students in identifying a room, if one is needed to have private telehealth sessions with their therapist.
Planning Your Mental Health Care
In addition to options like CCS and our campus Chaplain, we also encourage students to reach out to care providers they have worked with in the past, or who are available near their home. With more providers offering virtual therapy, the option of remaining in care while away at school is more widely available than ever before. This can prevent gaps in care when it is often most needed, like in times of transition.
If a student is having difficulty finding a community mental health provider, please reach out or encourage them to reach out via email to the Counseling Center Director, Matt Gragg, (matt_gragg@redlands.edu).
