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Texas A&M University-Commerce
Counseling Center
Making a Difference
Annual Highlights Report
Fall 2016 – Spring 2017
OUR MISSION
The Counseling Center provides mental health services to assist students in maximizing their potential for
personal growth and academic success. Our purpose is to complement the University's academic mission and
goals by initiating interventions to promote a healthy campus environment and meet the psychological and
educational needs of the University community. Our challenge is to nurture and support students and address
the changing issues and concerns of a diverse University community.
OUR VISION
The Counseling Center aspires to help students develop the insight, resources, and courage that lead to lifelong
healthy choices. Our aim is to provide holistic, individualized attention in a welcoming, safe environment,
characterized by respect, compassion, and a genuine desire to make a difference.
AN OVERVIEW
The Counseling Center offers the following services:
Individual counseling
Couples counseling
Group counseling
Faculty/staff and parent consultation
Educational outreach
Crisis intervention
After-hours crisis assistance
Mental health screenings
Psychiatric services
Biofeedback and relaxation room
This year, our staff consisted of a director, seven full-time clinicians, one contract counselor, a consulting
psychiatric nurse practitioner, an administrative secretary, and four student workers. The Counseling Center
continues to maintain a staff of diverse clinicians from different backgrounds and clinical specialties and offers
bilingual counseling services in Spanish, Chinese and Hungarian.
ANNUAL HIGHLIGHTS
Developed an online Outreach Request Form for outreach services
Began case-oriented peer review to ensure quality and consistency
Launched ProtoCall, an after-hours call service staffed by professional counselors
Conducted the first annual Advisory Board meeting
Initiated and hosted the inaugural Vet Net Symposium
Played a vital and active role in the Safe Spaces Ally Project
2373 2174
2457
3522 3214
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
Total Appointments
2013-2017
Total Counseling Appointments
360 426
477
551 590
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
Total Number of Clients
2013-2017
Total Clients
DIRECT COUNSELING SERVICES
The Counseling Center provided a total of 3,214 appointments to 590 clients this academic year.
7% increase in total number of clients compared to 2015-16
9% decrease in total appointments
Data variation may be related to different number of FTE each year and also the implementation of
treatment plan to facilitate short-term counseling
*Comparison is calculated based on Fall and Spring semesters.
Individual, Couples, and Group Counseling
Counseling services include individual, couples, and group counseling. Individual counseling involves clients
meeting one-on-one with a counselor weekly to bi-weekly depending on the nature of their presenting concern.
Couples counseling is provided to students and their partner who are both enrolled at TAMU-C. A counselor
meets with the couple for a consultation and makes recommendation about type of services to best match with
their needs. In addition to one-on-one counseling, a variety of groups are offered to help maximize students’
well-being for greater success.
Individual Counseling
The Counseling Center values the use of short-term therapy to help clients address a variety of issues they may
face in a university setting. This year, the average percentage of individual counseling sessions is at 5.45
appointments per client. In general, the patterns in the previous two years were similar and consistent.
36% 31%
37% 34% 34%
62% 68%
62% 65% 66%
2% 1% 1% 1% 0% 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
Percentage Comparison
by Gender
Male Female Transgender
45%
27%
14%
6% 4% 2% 1% 1% 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Race/Ethnicity
Client Demographics
Clients’ demographic information was gathered as part of their intake process. In the following paragraphs,
analyses by gender, race/ethnicity, academic level, relationship status, and other demographics are included.
Gender
The following graph shows the percentage of male,
female, and transgender clients receiving counseling
services in the past five years. This year, there were
66% female clients and 34% male clients. The pattern
has been consistent in the past five years.
Race/Ethnicity/International Students
The percentage of clients by race and ethnicity is
presented as follows (also see the bar graph):
White: 45%
Black: 27%
Hispanic: 14%
Asian: 6%
Biracial/Multiracial: 4%
Other: 2%
American Indian: 1%
Pacific Islander: 1%
Other Client Demographics
International Student: 7%
Veteran Student: 3%
Transfer Student: 32%
First-Generation College Student: 44%
Currently on Academic Probation: 9%
Live On-Campus: 47%
Currently Employed: 53%
Without Health Insurance: 34%
Has a Disability: 12%
Registered with Disability Office: 7%
Prior Psychiatric/Counseling: 49%
Prior Psychiatric Hospitalization: 9%
Currently on Psychiatric Medication(s): 36%
Freshman
21%
Sophomore
18%
Junior
26%
Senior
21%
Masters
12%
Doctoral
2%
Academic Level Academic Level
The pie chart shows the percentage of clients by
academic levels. Results indicate that
approximately 26% of junior students sought
counseling, followed by seniors and freshmen
(both at 21%), sophomores (18%), master’s
students (12%), and doctoral students (2%).
Relationship Status
The bar graph on the right shows the percentage
of clients by relationship status. Approximately
48% of clients identified themselves as single, 25%
were in a committed relationship, 15% were dating,
7% were married or partnered, 2% marked as
divorced or “other,” and 1% were separated.
Top 3 Referral Sources:
1) Self (38%)
2) Friend (23%)
3) Faculty/Advisor (14%)
Common Presenting Concerns
As part of the intake process, clients are asked to
identify concerns they would like to address in
counseling. They are given a list of 40 items to
“check-all-that-apply.” This year, the top five
concerns are depression, stress, generalized anxiety,
academic distress, and lack of motivation. The
following table shows the top 5 concerns in the last
three years, which remain fairly consistent.
Top 5
Concerns
2017 2016 2015
1 Depression Depression Depression
2 Stress Stress Stress
3 Generalized
Anxiety
Generalized
Anxiety
Academic
Distress
4 Academic
Distress
Academic
Distress
Generalized
Anxiety
5 Lack of
Motivation
Lack of
Motivation
Low
Self-Esteem
48%
15%
25%
7%
1% 2% 0% 2%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Relationship Status
Risk Assessment at Intake
Risk assessment is an important part of the intake during which seven questions are asked. If a client answers
“yes” on any of the seven items, the intake counselor will follow-up with further inquiries and assess for
his/her safety during the session.
This year, 48% of clients reported thoughts of self-harm, 31% had engaged in self-injury behaviors, 22% had
been victim of a violent act, 20% had a prior suicide attempt, 13% had engaged in violence against another
person, 11% had current suicidal thoughts, and 1% had a current desire to harm someone else.
After-Hours Crisis Assistance, Consultation, and Hospitalization
The Counseling Center offers quality and sustainable after-hours crisis assistance to students by contracting
with ProtoCall services. It is a clinical call center staffed by mental health professionals providing crisis
assessment, intervention, and stabilization.
During regular business hours, students can walk in to the Counseling Center and request a same-day triage
appointment should a personal crisis occur. This year, a total of 210 triage sessions were conducted.
With regard to hospitalization, a total of 8 clients were hospitalized with 3 clients hospitalized by the
Counseling Center, 4 clients hospitalized by others (e.g., self, family, or UPD), and 1 student referred to the
hospital for further evaluation.
1%
11%
13%
20%
22%
31%
48%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Currently have desire to harm someone else
Currently have suicidal ideation or thoughts
Ever engaged in violent behavior against another person
Made a suicide attempt before
Been the victim of a violent act
Ever engaged in self-injury behaviors
Ever had thoughts of harming self
Risk Assessment at Intake
37%
44%
9% 7% 2% 2% 2%
0%5%
10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%
Referral Source
for LEAP Program
Percentage
LEAP Program
The Lion—Education, Assessment, and Prevention (LEAP) is a 2-session substance use intervention program
for students referred from other campus departments. The goal of the program is to provide students with
psycho-education on substance use issues and its consequences to help them develop a deeper insight into their
own use and empowers them to make any change they wish to make in their substance use. During the sessions,
clients are assessed for their current and history of substance use and learn about possible triggers and
underlying factors associated with family dynamics, personal characteristics, and social support. This year, 44
students started in LEAP with 37 students completing the program. Of the attendees, 44% were referred by
Dean of Students, 37% by Athletics, 9% by Academic Department (faculty/advisor/staff), 7% by friend, and
2% by self, Residential Living and Learning (RLL), and University Police Department (UPD), respectively.
Couples Counseling
The Counseling Center offers couples counseling to student couples who are both currently enrolled at the
University. Common concerns include communication problems, family of origin complications, loss of
attraction and infidelity, as well as other impacting factors such as grief, trauma history, addictions, and mental
or physical health problems.
Students who are interested in seeking couples counseling are referred to a couples’ counselor for a
consultation session to discuss and determine appropriate treatment. While some students may benefit from
couples counseling, others may be recommended for individual counseling to address personal issues. This
year, there were a total of 8 couples’ consultations and 16 couples’ counseling sessions.
34 37 39 58 39
170
109 118
356 329
0
100
200
300
400
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
Psychiatric Appointments
2013-2017
New Patient Psych Follow-up
Group Counseling
The Counseling Center offers group counseling to clients who may benefit from learning and supporting each
other in a group format. This year, two different groups were formed with each group conducted twice.
Becoming Socially Successful
Conducted two groups for clients with social anxiety
The group was focused on:
o relaxation techniques
o cognitive restructuring
o social skills training
o assertiveness
o self-affirmation
Power of Connection
Provided two workshop-oriented groups
for international students
Strengthened skills in:
o cultural adjustment & global awareness
o communication & problem solving
o team collaboration & leadership
o stress management & self-care
Psychiatric Services
Ms. Susann Adams has been serving as a psychiatric nurse practitioner since January 2015. She provides
psychiatric evaluation, consultation and medication management at the Counseling Center for 8 hours a week.
This year, she accepted 39 new patients and provided psychiatric services to a total of 69 ongoing patients
with 329 follow-up appointments.
Client Satisfaction
Each semester, anonymous survey feedback is obtained from our clients upon termination, or at the end of the
semester, whichever comes first, to enrich the quality of our services.
This year, we received 257 client satisfaction surveys. Results in the following sections were combined
outcomes from the Fall and Spring semesters. Overall, clients offered very positive ratings for our Center
services and provided insightful comments as well as constructive feedback to help us enhance future services.
The following section shows the percentage of client agreement with each survey statement:
100% Front desk staff provided courteous and respectful assistance
99.5% Physical setting of the Counseling Center was comfortable, peaceful, and respectful of privacy
100% Information about confidentiality, rights and responsibilities was provided
99.5% Counselor understood client’s concerns and provided useful information and/or assistance
99% Counselor acted in a professional manner demonstrating courtesy, respect, and sensitivity
98.5% Client gained a greater understanding of how the presenting concerns are affecting his/her life
98% Client is better able to identify source of support in his/her life
98% Client has a greater ability to understand and express his/her thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and strengths
99% Client is aware of and actively practicing strategies to manage his/her personal and/or academic goals
99.5% Client believes that counseling has had an overall positive impact on his/her life
99.5% Client would return to the Counseling Center in the future if he/she needed assistance or information
98% The Counseling Center has had a positive impact on client’s decision to remain at A&M-Commerce
This next section provides a snapshot of the clients’ feedback to the Counseling Center. In general, comments
regarding the front desk staff, counselors and their counseling experience were quite positive. All of our
counselors were mentioned positively in one or more surveys.
The service was very satisfying, I feel as
though the reason for me being here was
resolved thoroughly and with pleasing results.
The counseling service was very available and
made it very comforting to know.
I’m able to identify what I struggle with, and I
have found ways to manage or overcome them.
I don’t think I would have been able to do this
without the Counseling Center services.
I have found that the Counseling Center has
helped provide ease to my anxiety and ways to
lessen the frequency and intensity of any panic
attacks. It has provided me with hope for my
future, friends, love, and for myself.
Thank you Dr. Clinton for putting this team
together and creating a department that really
works together.
The Center has been amazing, and my
counselor has helped me immensely. I feel
more students should know just how great this
Center is and how much it can help.
I can say for certain that this place and the
people in it have saved my life.
I have found my counseling sessions to be
effective and beneficial, and I recommend
everyone (who is going through any sort of
crisis) to seek counseling.
Student Retention
In the survey results, 98% of our clients agreed that the Counseling Center has had a positive impact on their
retention. These additional comments show some examples of feedback we obtained from clients.
Counseling has helped me better with my
academic goals and personal goals and to
understand and fix problems I have.
It has been a great experience helping me
through my academic program. It’s nice to
have someone to talk to without judgment. It
takes away a lot of stress. I could not get
through school without being able to talk to
my counselor. I’ve gotten help with stress and
coping strategies and sleep.
The Counseling Center has helped me grow
and learn coping skills through my college
career. I feel that it has been vital to how
successful I have been throughout my time at
school, and I would recommend that everyone
takes advantage of what it has to offer.
My counselor is the best. She has helped me
through some of my hardest times in college.
I have several mental health disorders and
transferring here has been tough. My
counselor has been wonderful at helping me
with those issues.
I enjoy going to counseling; it helps me deal
with all the stress and things that overwhelms
me at school.
I really like not only having help with my
mental health, but also with my academics
(like making plans for how I do homework).
I also really like that most of the session I am
the one talking and brainstorming solutions
with help from my counselor.
Client Feedback for Service Enhancement
When eliciting feedback to enhance our services at the Counseling Center, these were the comments received:
I would suggest longer time for counseling.
I don’t love the anti-phone policy as it is an
escape to myself and others, not to mention
that it can be boring to sit with nothing to do
which can cause frustration.
More and longer time for massage chairs.
Have the athletic department inform student-
athletes on the Counseling Center more.
Expansion of department may improve an
already excellent resource.
Possibly bring the horses or some other type
of activities out cause I love them!
I really enjoy the DeStress Fest you guys put
on. I really would like to see it happen more
times a year. Maybe around midterms.
More job positions in the Counseling Center,
and actual promotion of the outreach events.
I believe more objects for sand tray therapy
would be helpful to create more scenes for
when I or fellow students use the sandbox!
Educational Outreach Services
The Counseling Center values the important role of educational outreach services in promoting mental health
awareness and offering prevention and resources to our campus community. Outreach events came in the
forms of classroom presentations, workshops, tabling events, and panel discussions. The goal is to educate and
inform students, faculty, and staff on various mental health topics as well as Counseling Center services.
In 2016-17, we conducted a total of 91 outreach programs with 52 events for our campus partners and 39
programs initiated by the Counseling Center staff.
Specialized Training
QPR
The QPR is a 3-step suicide prevention program—Question, Persuade, and Refer, that is
widely used in various settings: including universities, mental health fields, schools,
healthcare, law enforcement, business, and local communities.
The Counseling Center has joined over 160 universities and colleges in offering QPR training to our campus
community. The Counseling Center continues to have three counselors certified as QPR Gatekeeper Instructors.
To date, more than 200 faculty/staff and students have been trained to use this potentially life-saving
behavioral intervention.
Safe Spaces Ally Project
The Counseling Center continues to play a vital and active role in the Safe Spaces Ally
Project to create a safer, freer, and more welcoming environment for all individuals
regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. Students, faculty, and staff can take a 4-
hour training and pledge to become Safe Spaces Allies as they commit to serve as
welcoming and supportive resources for LGBTQ communities. To date, more than 300 allies have been
trained. For campus community members who are interested in receiving the training and/or learning more
about the project, please visit: Safe Spaces Ally Project
Vet Net Symposium
The Counseling Center developed and hosted the inaugural Vet Net Symposium in the
summer of 2017. The focus of the symposium was dedicated to educating mental health
professionals on the specific needs of veterans. A total of 6 CE hours were provided to
licensed counselors, social workers, and psychologists in Texas. The symposium
attracted more than 50 mental health professionals from all over Texas.
1805
2327
3289
4112
5335
133
284
382
279
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
Relaxation Room Usage
2013-2017
Fall & Spring Summer
Online Services
Counseling Corner Articles
Our counselors regularly publish mental health articles in the university newspaper, The East Texan, in a
column called the Counseling Corner. The articles are written to raise mental health awareness for our students
and campus community. This year, 20 new articles were issued in the newspaper and on the Counseling
Center website. To date, a total of 93 mental health articles are archived online. All articles can be found at:
Counseling Corner Articles
On-Line Screening
A link to an anonymous on-line screening is included on the Counseling Center website for students who wish
to learn about possible mental health concerns by completing a brief screening in one or more of the following
areas: depression, generalized anxiety, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, and
alcohol use. This year, a total of 543 anonymous screenings were conducted either online or by paper format.
Other Services
Relaxation Room
The Relaxation Room in
the Counseling Center
continues to gain its
popularity through
promotions at outreach
and by word of mouth. It
provides students, faculty, and staff a quiet place and
calming environment to relax, de-stress, and
rejuvenate. This year, we continued to reach a record
high of 5,335 visits, a 30% increase from last year.
Biofeedback
The Counseling Center offers the Relaxing Rhythms, an interactive 15-step guided
biofeedback program combining biofeedback training, breathing techniques, and
guided meditation. The sensory technology detects physical and emotional
responses as measured by heart rate variability and skin conductance.
This biofeedback program is regularly promoted and/or demonstrated on mental
health screening days, at various outreach events, and in stress management and mindfulness workshops.
Students are encouraged to come by the Counseling Center and use the Relaxing Rhythms as a way to expand
stress management abilities, enhance awareness and calmness through relaxation, and gain a sense of control in
their life.
Counseling Center Staff
Special thanks go to all of our staff who contributed to the accomplishments summarized in this annual report.
The Counseling Center staff for the year of 2016-2017 is listed below:
Director Linda T. Clinton, Ed.D, LPC-S
Counselor/Assistant Director Nick Patras, Ph.D., LPC-S
Staff Psychologist/Clinical Coordinator Tina Ya-Ting Yang, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist
Counselor/Outreach Coordinator Agnes Gonzalez, M.S., LPC
Counselor/Multicultural Specialist Tameca Minter, M.Ed., LPC
Counselor Marty Marsh Jacobs, M.S., LPC-S
Counselor Shannon Moseley, M.S., LPC
Counselor Caleb Barnet, M.S., LPC-Intern
Counselor (Contract) Dean Mattox, M.S., LPC-Intern
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Susann Adams, RN
Legal Advisor Jay Garrett, J.D.
Administrative Secretary II Bettie Kennedy
Student Workers (Fall and/or Spring) Kiley Laminack
Molly Maroney
Emili McNellis
Kelsee Webb
Shalie Williams