Help

It is often difficult for individuals to know where to go for help and what they should expect. Many different professionals including psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, social workers, family doctors and others may offer help. There is considerable confusion in the filed as to what constitutes optimal treatment fro an individual, and different practitioners may recommend significantly varied approaches. The first part of this section will discuss ways of distinguishing between approaches that will likely be helpful and approaches that may not meet your needs.

Any recommendations without a proper evaluation, which should take a minimum of one to two 45 minute sessions. An accurate assessment cannot be made without the practitioner taking a full history which should include the symptoms and evolution of the problem, and development, social and family histories. Be wary of any practitioner who tells you that you "have" a particular diagnosis before properly getting to know you. Expert practitioners may say "your symptoms are consistent with X diagnosis, but we need to understand things better" or may prefer not to give any diagnosis until issues are clarified.
Attempts to stick the individual into a particular type of therapy or treatment without full understanding of the individual's needs and preferences. Therapy should be custom fitted to the individual, rather than the person being coerced to accept the modality that the practitioner believes in.
Therapists who describe themselves solely as "eclectic". Most expert therapists will use multiple theories or modalities to help address your needs. However, there are certain therapists who may not have a good grounding in any particular modality and will tend to jump between various models whenever they feel anxious that the client is not responding to their attempts. Good therapy should feel cohesive with the various things that the therapist says making sense together.
Any treatment that in any way implies that there is something fundamentally wrong with you or that the problem is your fault.
Any treatment that places all the onus of getting better on you. Being able to work with the therapist is important, but it is unfair to be told that the success of the therapy will depend mostly on how hard you try. Most people have already been trying hard to feel better. Factors such as motivation can be a symptom of the problem. It makes no sense to be told that in order to get better you have to immediately get over one of the problems that you are having. Clearly, therapies that use an individuals ability to immediately overcome a symptom as a criteria for starting therapy, will show an apparent higher success rate.

Student Mental Health

Promoting student centred emotional well-being

Be Wary Of: