Family Resources
Counseling services is here to help your student achieve as much success as possible while attending WTAMU. To do this, we offer a variety of services including short-term individual and group therapy to all students who are currently enrolled, year round. Some common examples of concerns for which students seek help include depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, and adjustment/transition concerns.
The first year experience and subsequent years present a series of unique challenges that affect your student’s growing independence and maturity. You and your student will make adjustments as you learn to manage the changes in this life transition. Some students may experience few problems such as difficulties with time management or task completion while others find the process to be more difficult and have trouble transitioning into new friendships and developing autonomy or a sense of self. These changes are especially troublesome when away from the usual comforts of home and family. The provided links offer tips on how to ensure you and your student ease the transition of going off to college.
For Support, Please Contact Us
Phone: 806.651.2340
Hours: Monday - Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In case of an emergency please contact the University Police Department at 806.651.2300.
Links
- Helping Your Student Transition to College
- Helping from a Distance
- Limits of Confidentiality
- Coping Strategies for Parents
- Additional Resources
Helping Your Student Transition to College
Parents, remember that the transition to college can be a stressful experience, especially if your child has not lived away from home before. During this important time of "family transition", you may be tempted to put your own feeling and reactions "on hold" but attending to your own emotional needs will go a long way to helping everyone feel more comfortable about the upcoming challenges going to college presents.
Recognize that feelings of ambivalence, anxiety, and excitement are normal, and you may experience a variety of these emotions. While ambivalence and anxiety are common during this period of transition, it is also normal to look forward to the relative peace and quiet along with the opportunity to spend more time with spouse and/or younger children.
Remember that coming to WTAMU is a tremendously important developmental step toward adulthood and typically represents the past 18 years or so of learning, most of which has been geared toward assuming a productive place in the world. Parents often find that it helps to focus on the opportunity of a college education that has been provided for their child.
Here a few ways you can express you care and enhance your child’s experience at WTAMU.
- Stay in touch. Despite experimenting with independence, your child still needs to know that you are there and available to help with everyday things as well as difficult issues.
- Allow your child to set the agenda/subject for some of your conversations. If your child needs your help/support, the subject is more likely to come up if they aren’t being asked pointed questions.
- Be realistic about financial matters. Students should come to school knowing who will pay for tuition, books, fees etc. They should also know what the family’s expectations are about spending money to help avoid any misunderstandings later. Along with educational fees, parents are encouraged to remember the "cost" of social activities which are an important part of the college experience.
- Be realistic about academic achievement. This is to say that while your child may have excelled in high school, they may have to develop or refine the skills necessary to work independently and consistently along with demonstrating mastery in college. So a suggestion would be to keep this in mind when discussing grades.
Information obtained in SCS sessions whether verbally or in written form will not be disclosed to any outside party without the written permission of the student or the client’s legal guardian. In an effort to protect your confidentiality, should you see your counselor outside of the Counseling office, they will not acknowledge that they know you unless you speak to them first.
Allow yourself to have emotions because there is little benefit in pretending you don’t feel sad, guilty, relieved, apprehensive, worried, etc. Discuss your feelings with your source of support which could include your family, other parents, and friends. As parents, "overall wellness" should be your goal. During stressful times we may forget to eat, our sleep schedule can be interrupted, or we are just tired. In order to be helpful to your child, eat regular healthy meals, get quality rest/sleep, and exercise if possible. This should give you the energy needed to be helpful.
You can also find new outlets for yourself by taking on new challenges and responsibilities. This gives a way to channel and/or manage the new feelings and energy that may be associated with your child attending college. Keep in mind, now is the time for you to cross things off that "to-do" list you have been adding to for the past 18 years or so. Patience with your child is important at this time also because It may take awhile for them to develop the right balance between their need to be independent from you but feel supported and guided by you. Understand that it may take some time to figure it all out.
- Counseling Services (806) 651-2340
- Student Medical Services (806) 651-3287
- National Suicide Prevention Hotline (800) 273-8255
- National Crisis Text Line: Text "Home" to 741741
- University Police Department (806) 651-2300 or 911