UMB SCC’s scope of services model was developed based on EAB: Establishing a Sustainable Scope of Service, Guidance for Campus Mental Health Services. Their overview of national collegiate mental health trends and recommendations inspired UMB SCC to define a sustainable scope of services based on UMB’s mission and resources on and off campus.
Primary Goal
The UMB Student Counseling Center’s (SCC) primary goals are to provide high-quality, timely access to confidential short-term mental health services and referral assistance to all currently enrolled UMB students.
The UMB SCC has three essential roles in advancing the educational mission of the University of Maryland, Baltimore community:
a. Providing a range of short-term mental health services designed to help students manage immediate problems and achieve their academic and personal goals.
b. Educating the campus community about the mental health and developmental needs of graduate and professional students through campus-wide interventions, including outreach programming and consultation.
c. Responding to the psychological effects of a crisis impacting individual students and assisting the campus community in maintaining a safe and supportive educational environment.
Eligibility
Services provided are free and confidential. All currently enrolled UMB students are welcome to contact the student counseling center to request services. The goal of the phone triage is to discuss the student’s concerns and for a clinical staff member to determine if their needs fall within SCC’s scope of services.
The decision about whether or not the needs of the student fall within the scope of services will be made during or after an initial consultation meeting with a counselor or, if needed, after consultation with the treatment team, the Executive Director, and/or the Clinical Director. The professional judgment of SCC mental health providers will govern the determination in a particular case.
Our individual services are based on a Brief Intervention Model (above) and are designed to help students manage immediate concerns. These services are ideal for issues that have arisen recently or that are expected to resolve, not ongoing.
The SCC’s Brief Intervention Model reallocates counseling resources in a manner that is beneficial to all UMB students, reduces their wait time, and helps them manage immediate concerns.
Model
The SCC provides a confidential brief, short-term mental health services based on a Brief Intervention Model. Clinical staff will meet with students to provide support and stabilization while continuing to assess individual needs and set therapeutic goals. The number and frequency of sessions will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Individual needs that cannot be accommodated within our Brief Intervention Model of Services will be referred to off-campus resources for care. Such referrals might occur immediately following a consultation, after further assessment of need has taken place, or after some treatment has been delivered.
SCC's Scope of Services
Common concerns that may be addressed using the SCC’s Brief Intervention Model may include:
- Mild to moderate mental health concerns such as anxiety and depression
- Adjustment and developmental concerns
- Interpersonal concerns (e.g., with family, friends, roommates, romantic partnerships)
- Self-esteem concerns
- Concerns related to the transition to graduate and professional new life circumstances
- Identity development related to various dimensions of identity (sexual, racial/ethnic, religious, gender, etc.)
- Academic concerns: Performance anxiety, perfectionism, under or over-achievement, and low motivation
- Trauma or Interpersonal Violence: Assessment, stabilization and early intervention within a brief therapy model.
- Grief and loss
- LGBTQ+ concerns
- Cultural concerns: Impact of oppression, power, and/or privilege
- Other concerns, which may include: disability, body image, healthy lifestyle choices, setting healthy boundaries
NOTE: During periods of high demand for service, our providers may no longer have openings. However, in an effort to avoid wait lists or a delay in care, we may help students to connect with community providers rather than place them on a substantial waitlist.
Services offered by the SCC
Common concerns that may not be addressed using the SCC’s Brief Intervention Model may include:
- A need or request for ongoing weekly sessions or more services
- A history of long-standing and/or significant depression, mood disorder, or anxiety concerns
- A need or request for frequent consultation after hours that cannot be stabilized with short-term crisis intervention
- A need or request for services that is beyond the clinical expertise of the Counseling Center’s staff
- Presence of one or more of the following, such that the best treatment would be an intensive outpatient program (IOP) or higher level of care:
- Alcohol and/or other substance use problems as the primary issue with possible need for medical detox and/or medical stabilization
- Active or long-standing disorder eating symptoms requiring medical monitoring
- Chronic thoughts of suicide, frequent self-injury behaviors, history of repeated suicide attempts, recent or multiple psychiatric hospitalizations
- Evidence or risk of progressive deterioration in mental or emotional functioning
- An inability to comply with treatment recommendations
- Requests for ongoing counseling when already participating in treatment with another mental health provider
- A need or request for treatment over multiple, consecutive semesters or academic years
- Requests for medication evaluations and/or management when not participating in the SCC brief intervention counseling services model
Services Not Provided by the UMB SCC
- Mandated mental health evaluation or counseling
- Family or couples counseling
- Psychological assessments, predicting performance evaluations, or forensic evaluations (e.g., employment security assessment, litigation, or legal adjudications)
- Court appearances/testimony/evaluations or court-ordered assessment and treatment
- Counseling services solely to gain clinical experience
- Psychological evaluations for the purpose of determining disability status or to make recommendations for students who have been diagnosed with a disability (Disability)
- Documentation/authorization for emotional support animals (ESA)
Off-Campus Referral Process
When off-campus mental health services are recommended or preferred by students, during or after the initial appointment or as these factors become apparent during the course of treatment, your counselor or the SCC’s Referral Assistance Coordinator (RAC) will help to identify several referral options selected specifically for your personal situation (Referrals). The SCC can help with accessing health insurance benefits and navigating transportation options. For example, if a student does not have a car, finding an off-campus provider that is located close to the UM Shuttle route may be taken into consideration. Local counseling options include some providers within walking distance to campus and some that provide telemental health, low or sliding scale fee services.
UMB SCC’s scope of services model was developed based on EAB: Establishing a Sustainable Scope of Service. Guidance for Campus Mental Health Services. (2018)
