Address:

Hours:

M - F 8:30 am - 6:30 pm

Closed weekends and holidays

Address:

Hours:

M - F 8:30 am - 6:30 pm

Closed weekends and holidays

The Christopher Counseling Center provides free, confidential services for Promise students, including brief individual and group counseling; emergency psychological services; consultation with home and community providers for students with specialized or long-term needs that require specialized off-campus treatment; and outreach and educational programming. The PCC also offers psychological consultation to students, faculty and staff as well as parents and families who are concerned about a student.

Individual and Group Counseling

We offer several counseling services including short-term one-on-one sessions with a counselor or meeting in a small group.
Many students meet with a counselor sporadically throughout their college years as particular concerns arise.

Typical concerns students discuss in personal counseling include:

• Adjusting to college

• Coping with stress

• Confusion, anxiety or depression

• Dealing with fears

• Family Concerns

• Loneliness

• Romantic concerns

• Balancing academics and social needs

• Self-destructive use of alcohol or drugs

• Loss of a relationship

• Understanding one’s sexuality and/or gender identity

• Exploring career choice

• Personal trauma such as sexual assault

• Illness, death of a friend or family member

Small groups of students are occasionally formed for mutual support and shared learning. Examples are: First Year and Non-Traditional Student Support Groups, Art Therapy, and Depression/Anxiety. Students are encouraged to contact the Counseling Center to find out about more specific groups. For students who come in to college with a significant history of mental health needs or otherwise decide they require more frequent, more specialized, or longer-term services that our counseling center can provide, we are happy to work with students to help them find a therapist in the community.

Educational Programs and Workshops

Workshops are designed to help students learn skills to cope with the stress of living in a fast paced, competitive world. Examples include: Stress Management, Assertiveness Training, Positive Body Image and Healthy Relationships.

Consultation

Occasionally students, faculty and staff have a concern about the behavior of a student and would like to consult with a professional about what might be done to help the individual. The Counseling Center staff is available to provide assistance and when appropriate explore ways to make an effective referral.

For those who like get their hearts pumping and bodies moving, our on-campus Matthew Fitness Center offers a number of options. Students can attend a yoga session, participate in a Zumba class, torch stress with p90x, or put on their headphones and work out solo with our countless cardio and weight machines, free weights, medicine balls, resistance bands, and more. And to meet your crazy schedules, we keep the doors open late. We also encourage Promise students to get involved with clubs, organizations, local trips and outing, and our Mindful Campus program. More details can be found below. The Matthew Center has extended membership to Promise Guests.

Mindful Matters

Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by intentionally focusing ones awareness and attention on the present moment, while gently and non-judgmentally acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. Practicing mindfulness can be extremely effective for improving both mental and physical health and overall well–being.

Events

Mindful Drop-In Sessions
Drop-in sessions are offered to staff and faculty throughout the semester. If you would like to take part in this initiative, a health and wellness staff member will come to a classroom or meeting and lead a 5-10 minute experiential mindfulness exercise.

Wellness To Go
Join us in Campus Plaza for some tea, other goodies that support wellness, time to de-stress, and to learn some ways to integrate Mindfulness into your daily life. Mindful campus Wellness To Go happens once a month over the lunch hour.

Mindfulness Tips

Get started with your own Mindful Practice using these tips:

• Stay Focused on the here and now. By focusing on the here and now, mindful practice will help you be less likely to get caught up in worries about the future or regrets over the past, less preoccupied, and become better able to form deep connections.

• Go with the flow. In mindfulness meditation, once you establish concentration, you observe the flow of inner thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations without judging them as good or bad.

• Pay attention to your senses. Notice external sensations such as sounds, sights, and touch that make up your moment-to-moment experience. Focusing on your sensory experiences will help ground you in the moment that you are in and keep you attentive to and present in your environment.

• Allow each moment’s experience to come and to go. There is no need to hold onto any particular mental experience, idea, emotion, or sensation, or to get caught in thinking about the past or the future. Instead you watch what comes and goes in your mind, and discover which mental habits produce a feeling of well-being or suffering.

• Gently notice and redirect. If your mind wanders into planning, daydream, or criticism, notice where it has gone and gently redirect it to sensations in the present.

• Keep at it. At times, this process may not seem relaxing at all, but over time it provides a key to greater happiness and self-awareness as you become comfortable with an increasingly wider range of your experiences.

• Start Small: Making any change in your life can be difficult, especially when you already have your own routine. Start by practicing mindfulness for 5 minutes per day or during any daily activity like washing the dishes or taking a shower. The beauty of mindfulness is that you don’t judge yourself if you miss a day or opportunity to practice. Just gently notice your thoughts and feelings and try again!

• Practice Acceptance. Most importantly, mindfulness practice involves actively accepting whatever you experience in any given moment. Acceptance of your experiences is not the same as approval of them; it is the idea that you stop fighting what you experience so that you can participate in your life. This practice will help you to be more kind and forgiving toward yourself, and will help you cope with whatever comes your way.

• Do Yoga. Yoga is a great way to utilize the principles of mindfulness and improve the connection between your body and your mind, while also getting exercise.