Important Information


To You - The Student
Your life as a student involves continual development and adjustment. While at CSUB, you will largely manage your own life, make your own decisions, take care of yourself and your needs, handle your own personal and social affairs and survive on the basis of responsible self-determination.
Most of us experience situations from time to time that raise questions about how well we are handling it all. Incidents such as the break up of an important relationship, conflicts within our families, failing an exam, the death of a friend or family member, a serious health problem or being victimized by a violent act can interfere with a student's more normal development and adjustment.
Each individual has different ways of dealing with these matters, and most people experience some anxieties or concerns as they go about doing so. Some choose to suffer through difficulties in isolation; others may seek help from a friend, family member, faculty or other member of the CSUB community. Many students choose to come to the campus Counseling Center to address their academic, personal or career concerns.

The Counseling Center
You will find all kinds of counseling and counselors at the University. At the Counseling Center, "counsel" is devoted to a particular set of needs: to clarify or understand feelings, alternatives, dilemmas, problems, questions, or crises. The need to be listened to or to sort out what is troubling you are issues that are actively addressed by the Counseling Center counselors.
The counselors are concerned with questions of work, study, career, and through all of these, your relationships to others, yourself and life. Students and counselors share a common interest: to help you, the student, make the most of your college experience by assisting you to:
  • Think through and identify possible solutions to personal and social difficulties interfering with your educational experience
  • Develop a better understanding of yourself
  • Plan your longer-term educational and life goals
  • Gain a better understanding of your feelings, attitudes, motivations, interests, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses
  • Develop self-improvement skills
  • Understand the reasons for your learning problems
  • Cope with any stresses or crisis situations that leave you unsure of where to turn or what to do
  • Adjust to the many factors involved in living as a student
  • Develop satisfying personal relationships

You might like to know what counseling involves
Counselors work with problems of students from the simplest issue to very complex concerns. We don't make decisions for you; we work with you to help YOU make thoughtful and considered choices throughout your university career. Emphasis is placed on your ability and responsibility for conducting your own life. The counselor may provide suggestions for skills and techniques that can help you to manage the issues in your life. NOTE: Counseling Center counselors do not suggest or approve class schedules. That is the role of faculty and academic advisors.
All the services of the Counseling Center are available to all students who are enrolled in the regular University. These services are voluntary and covered by registration fees. Students who are enrolled in the Extended University or Intensive English Language Center (IELC) are not eligible for services and are encouraged to check Community Resources for appropriate mental health services.

Confidentiality
Students are entitled to and have a legal right to confidential sessions with a counselor. The Counseling Center upholds the legal and ethical standards of confidentiality. A counselor will be happy to provide further clarification.

When students should seek counseling
Students commonly seek counseling when they encounter a level of distress, which they feel unable to handle alone. In the past, students have most commonly sought counseling services at CSUB Counseling Center to address the following kinds of issues:   
  • Anger
  • Depression, apathy, low energy, poor motivation
  • Anxiety, persistent worry, panic attacks
  • Relationship issues, difficulties with intimacy, abusive relationships
  • Sexual problems/dysfunction
  • Family issues
  • Low self-esteem
  • Sexual abuse or assault
  • Eating disorder, episodic binge-eating, restricted intake
  • Loneliness
  • Sleep disturbances

Students typically try to work with these issues alone for a while before getting assistance. By seeking the assistance of a professional counselor, students can find non-judgmental acceptance and a level of expertise and objectivity that others who are closer to you (e.g. family or friends or even faculty) may not be able to provide.

Most students report a significant improvement in functioning within just a few sessions with a professional counselor. For others, a positive experience with short-term counseling provides them with the confidence to pursue other sources of support such as group therapy, support group attendance, or more open ended individual or family counseling with a therapist in the community.

Because some presenting issues require further attention and time than is realistically available with in the short-term counseling model, the counselor may determine that a referral to a more appropriate treatment setting or provider in the community is indicated. Should this be the case for you, your counselor will work closely with you to identify the most appropriate referrals given your circumstance, personal resources, and individual needs.