Dealing With Distressed Students

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Introduction

We know the Indiana University community has long worked together to provide a learning environment that strives to find optimal balance of challenge, opportunity and support for students. Recent events in the country, including those on U.S. campuses suggest increasing need for attaining such a balance.

We know that students leave sources of support behind when they come to Bloomington and that many of them are successful at establishing new ones on our campus and in our community. Many are not and frequently either turn directly to faculty and staff for support or more indirectly certainly show their need for it. Your willingness to responds to students in distress will undoubtedly be influenced by your personal style as well as by the limits of a professor’s or staff member’s responsibility for helping students grow emotionally as well as intellectually.

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers the following kinds of services.

Clinical – our staff of clinical social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists and advanced students in the various mental health disciplines, provides individual, group and couples counseling services for students with a wide range of problems. Emphasis is on short-term work.

Crisis – we offer walk-in crisis service between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. daily, Monday through Friday. Students are seen on a first come, first served basis. After hours psychiatric crises are handled by the Bloomington Hospital Emergency Department. A CAPS Emergency Response Team is available to respond to IU community crises. Generally people gain access to this service either through Residential Programs and Services, IUPD or the Dean of Students.

Consulting – the CAPS staff is available for telephone, (812) 855-5711, or in person consultations weekdays, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CAPS is located on the 4th floor of the IU Health Center, 600 North Jordan