Establishing a Counseling Clinic
Introduction
This project has been initiated by a partnership of three professionals in the medical counseling field, one clinician, and two master’s level counselors. The stakeholders shall be engaged in the identification, development, implementation,n and evaluation phases. The project aims to establish a counseling clinic that shall serve the community from the two sites in the local community college. The college students shall form the primary base of the center’s clientele. Thus, the center shall collaborate with the college to gather and project student’s mental health data.
Much emphasis will be placed on professionalism, and ethical code at the center as all clinicians will be licensed by Alabama as a Licensed Professional Counselor or an Associate Licensed Counselor under supervision (Sarmiento et al., 123). To verify their credentials, each clinician will provide their liability insurance, vitae, counseling license, and current background check information to the college. The clinical staff will be expected to maintain the confidentiality of every patient. A copy of the patients’ information shall also be provided to the management. Counseling sessions will be required to take place only on the site.
Additionally, the clinic will be part-time as it shall operate during five working hours in four days, Monday to Thursday. The clinic shall be closed from Friday to Sunday except for the occurrence of an emergency. Opening hours will be from 9 am-2 pm but can be flexible depending on the needs of students. Since the center will operate on a part-time basis, the clinicians will be required to have an additional approved workplace. Clinical data will be made available electronically; hence, telehealth will be provided whenever necessary. The center shall conduct training of clinicians when there arises a need to do so.
The local college administration will be responsible for providing referrals to the center. This will be issued using standardize referral forms. Both the center and college are bound by contract to include terms of service, rate of each session, and a 30 day written termination clause. Moreover, the first ten counseling sessions for each client will be covered by the community college at $150 per session. After that, the client’s insurance will be billed at a monthly rate of $10,000. This price will cover any admin fees as well. One clinical hour is equal to 45-50 mins. If a patient requires a diagnostic Assessments, they will be referred out to a local provider.
All the information about the operation of the center shall be submitted to the college administration. The management will be required to provide a one-year proposal to be evaluated after every semester. Also, records shall be reviewed and audits performed after every month.
Background Information
Counseling centers in colleges play an essential duty in networking departments in colleges to maintain mental health safety and a conducive environment for academic success. Lee et al. posited that the centers provide the students with therapies, counseling, and other treatments that can be handled within the facility. The centers collaborate with the learning institution, crisis management teams, and other local medical providers to ensure students maintain quality mental health. Other stakeholders that may assist in the smooth functioning of college counseling centers include parents and guidance, college administrators, staff, and the local community members to connect the students who are at a mental health risk to the required professional help (Lee et al.). Counseling centers in colleges provide support to hundreds of students and aid them to achieve their desired academic and relationship success.
Students who seek counseling advice regularly are more likely to function in the college community safely than their peers. In the community, students become vulnerable to mental disorders or behavior that could lead them to exhibit suicidal symptoms, alcohol and drug abuse, and eating disorders that could be life-threatening. A college counseling center is thus essential to provide students with social support, emotion regulation strategies, improvement of relationships, and adaptive skills for treatment of these disorders (Biasi et al., 250). A counseling center in a college could provide medication when required to promote the safety of the relationship between students and the surrounding community.
Project Justification
The need to access professional mental health in colleges remains steady as the students integrate with diverse practices, processes, and people in their journey in the institutions. Biasi et al. (250) believe that college institutions need to define the acceptable behavior and conduct clearly, the actions are taken for the violation of the conduct, and appropriately apply the consequences. However, some behavioral issues in colleges may arise as a result of mental disorders. The administration ought to support the development of a counseling center and identify students who require professional help for their academic excellence.
Project Implementation and Management
Goals and Objectives
Goals
The primary goal of this project is to establish a counseling center that offers professional mental health assistance to local college students.
Objectives
Long-term Objectives
To provide improved access to guidance and counseling services for the local college community.
Specific Objectives
- To increase the number of professional counselors available to offer help to the college community.
- To improve the quality of mental health care for students.
- To increase awareness of mental health issues that college students may face.
- To improve relationships and academic success of students through upholding their social status.
- To avail professional mental health to students at an affordable rate.
Project Beneficiaries
When identifying the need for establishing a counseling center, the local college students were the core target of the project. The project aims at providing students with social support, emotion regulation strategies, improvement of relations, and adaptive skills that will enable them to achieve academic and relationship success. The college will also benefit through improve behavior and discipline from students (Wilkinson et al.). The center will also serve members of the local community around the facility.
Expected Project Outcome
Logical Framework
Work Cited
Biasi, Valeria, et al. “The effectiveness of university counseling for improving academic outcomes and well-being.” British Journal of Guidance & Counselling 45.3 (2017): 248-257. Web.
Lee, Sang Min, and Mike Trevisan. “Evaluation in support of school counseling in Korea: A proposal.” KEDI Journal of Educational Policy 16.1 (2019). Web.
Sarmiento, Catalina, and Chloe Lau. “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM‐5.” The Wiley Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences: Personality Processes and Individual Differences (2020): 125-129. Web.
Wilkinson, Charity, et al. “Cognitive processing therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in a University Counselling Center: an outcome study.” the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist 10 (2017).