Counseling Center

Need a little extra support?

Concordia's Counseling Center is here to help you balance the emotional, social and educational aspects of your life. We offer free individual, couple and group counseling services to all enrolled students.

Request an Appointment

If you, or someone you know is in immediate danger, please call 911.

There are many resources available in the community, including regular counseling services and crisis services. Below are some common resources students use in the summer.

Concordia Campus Security/Public Safety - 218-299-3123

Crisis services that provide free emotional support 24/7:

  1.   Mobile Mental Health Crisis Response (specifically for the Moorhead area): 1-800-223-4512
  2.   FirstLink 24-Hr Suicide Lifeline (available nation-wide): 1-800-273-8255
  3.   Crisis Text Line (available nation-wide): Text HOME to 741741

Resources to help students connect with a therapist in their area:

  1.   Find a therapist: Locate a Counselor Near You. Or, Therapists Near You
  2.   BetterHelp
  3.   Those who identify within the LGBTQ community will find counselors available 24/7 at The Trevor Project– they are able to communicate with you through a variety of platforms (email, online chat, text, call).  

Resources for students struggling with loneliness and don’t feel ready to connect with a mental health provider:

  • 7cups.com. 7cups is an anonymous, on-demand, emotional health service that connects students to “trained listeners” for no cost at all. It is a great resource to help students connect with others for emotional connection during a time of increased isolation. 7cups can also serve as an online therapy provider.

Resources for students struggling with increased anxiety related to COVID-19:

  1.   The Wellness Society’s free Coronavirus Anxiety Workbook contains a plethora of free resources and information.
  2.   7 Science-based strategies to help manage coronavirus related anxiety

Kindly,

Counseling Center & Disability Services
Concordia College

Academic Year - Schedule an Appointment

Stop by our office in Old Main 109A, call us at 218.299.3514, or request an appointment online. Appointments are usually available within one week.

Request an Appointment

In Case of an Emergency

If an emergency occurs during business hours, please contact the Counseling Center and ask to speak to a counselor immediately. If after hours, contact Campus Security at 218.299.3123 or 911.

Services

Include, but are not limited to:

  • Personal growth
  • Interpersonal relationships
  • Grief and loss
  • Self-esteem
  • Sexuality
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Eating problems/body image
  • Alcohol/drug abuse referral source
  • Rape and crisis counseling

Policies

All services are confidential except for a few legal exceptions that your counselor will discuss in the first session. Our staff has a strong commitment to the ethical standards of the counseling and psychology professions.

All contacts with the Counseling Center are confidential. No client information is released to anyone outside the Center, including other college offices, faculty, or parents without clients' written consent. Limits to confideniality include the following:

  1. Counselors are required by law to report cases of suspected child abuse.
  2. Counselors may disclose information when deemed necessary to protect a client or others from imminent danger.
  3. Information may be released when required by court order.
  4. Counseling Center staff members may share information with each other for the purposes of consultation and training.

The staff of the Counseling Center welcomes your contact. We also value your privacy and time and therefore offer the following information to help you decide on the best method for reaching us.

Email is not an appropriate medium for personal counseling. If you are a Concordia student seeking personal counseling, please visit our office or call to make an appointment with one of our counselors.

We cannot guarantee that your email will remain confidential. While we will do our best to keep your communications private and will not disseminate them without your permission, our college administration, like many other employers, reserves the right to monitor our email usage and might, therefore, see the text of your message. If you are in any way concerned about the contents of your email being read by someone other than the person you are contacting, you might want to consider alternative ways of contacting that person.

When we respond to your email, we will respond to the address from which it is sent. If you do not wish others who may have access to the email account you are using to also have access to our response, please consider another means of communication.

While we check our email often, you have no way of knowing if one of us is unavailable due to illness, vacation, or other reason. This means that your message may not be received immediately. If time is of particular concern for you, you might want to consider calling the office instead.

We hope that these guidelines are helpful to you as you decide how best to reach our staff. We take your time and confidentiality very seriously and therefore consider it imperative that you understand the limitations of our use of email technology.

The Counseling Center fully supports Safe Space on campus, and we pledge to be confidential, nonjudgmental and supportive contacts for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex or asexual (LGBTQIA) members of the Concordia College community.

FAQs

Counseling is a process that is intended to help people take more effective control of their daily lives. It is a process of sharing thoughts and feelings in confidence with someone who is objective and is also a good listener.

Counseling is cooperative. Counselors do not solve people's problems, but rather they serve to enhance the efforts the person is already making, whether that be through discussing new approaches to solving a problem, giving needed information, helping to clarify thoughts and feelings or just through listening.

Counseling is self-improvement. The reasons people come to counseling are as varied as the individuals involved. Some of the reasons include a desire to increase self-confidence, clarify values and priorities, cope with stress, overcome depression, improve relationships with friends and family, improve motivation or become more assertive. In other words, counseling can be a way to improve oneself – a positive and healthy step toward greater self-awareness and change.

Counseling is preventive. The cognitive, emotional and behavioral modifications achieved through counseling can continually be applied to new life situations, safeguarding against the future development of serious problems and enhancing coping strength when problems arise.

Anyone! Most students at some time have problems adapting to new situations and changes taking place within them. Normal developmental concerns and academic pressures while at Concordia might lead them to feel intense anxiety, anger, sadness or depression. Very often these concerns can be worked out alone or with a friend.

Occasionally, however, because of the nature or magnitude of the personal concern, getting help may be desirable. People come to counseling wanting to feel better about themselves and others, and counselors are trained to assist people with personal growth, with awareness of self and environment, and with developing the skills they need to cope with problem situations. We believe students are demonstrating courage and wisdom by seeking another, objective perspective through the utilization of counseling services.

You can be ready to focus on a specific problem or issue, and to set clear and specific goals. Attend your sessions regularly and take an active part in them. Talk about what is bothering you as openly and honestly as possible. Complete any tasks or homework assignments asked of you. Be open to trying new or different approaches to dealing with your concerns. Talk openly with your counselor about your progress in counseling as your counselor is most interested in you benefiting from counseling. Finally, apply your new insights and growth in your daily activities.

Stop by the Counseling Center office in Old Main 109A or call 299.3514 to make an appointment. During busy times of the year, there may be a wait of several days before an initial appointment can be made. However, if something is really urgent, please contact us immediately and we will arrange to see you. We maintain office hours weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Services are free to all Concordia students.

Counseling Center staff are qualified, trained mental health professionals and advanced graduate student interns with backgrounds in psychology and counseling. They have experience working with a diversity of students and issues. Because counselors have different beliefs about how people change, they differ on how much talking they do in sessions, whether they ask you to do any homework and their focus of discussion.

Feedback from students who’ve come to the Counseling Center shows they think we’re competent and caring in helping people achieve more satisfying educational and life experiences. Regardless of the differing working styles of counselors, you can expect that all of our counselors will:

  • Take your concerns seriously
  • Attempt to help you find solutions to your problems (But they will not do for you what you are capable of doing for yourself.)
  • Maintain the highest ethical and legal standards of confidentiality
  • Be willing to answer some questions about herself or himself directly and honestly

During the first meeting with a counselor, you will be asked to describe your concerns and what you hope to gain from counseling. In addition, your counselor may ask a number of background questions to more fully understand your situation and ways to help you. This is an opportunity for you and the counselor to decide whether the Counseling Center is the best place for you to help yourself. After this meeting, you may decide to continue counseling and will schedule follow-up appointments for either individual or group counseling. When more appropriate for your concerns, you may be referred to another resource, either on or off campus. Some students find that the initial interview itself is all they need to explore and clarify their feelings and options.

Individual counseling sessions are typically 45-50 minutes in length; group sessions run for approximately 90 minutes. The amount of time you spend in counseling is determined by your own needs. Your counselor is committed to providing services that meet your needs in a timely and effective manner. On average, students wrap up services within four to eight sessions with their counselor.

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