Almost every campus has a counseling service or a service that provides students access to an off-campus counseling support. Counseling services are useful to students who are facing personal issues such as:

• Divorce of parents
• Death of a loved one
• Depression
• Addiction
• Relationship problems
• Severe Stress

While these issues may seem to be rare, they are actually fairly common among students. To take advantage of these services, the following guidelines can be helpful.

1. Don’t wait too long to ask for help. If you let your personal issues continue too long, your grades are almost certainly going to suffer.
2. Personal issues that students experience are familiar to counselors. Follow the advice you are given because it is generally based upon a lot of past experience.
3. Don’t be embarrassed to discuss your issues with close friends. Often they can be a part of your recovery plan.
4. If your grades are suffering, you may want seek help from your professors. You may be able to receive extra time on tests or be given an opportunity to make up for a bad grade.
5. If you don’t know how to access the counseling services, see your advisor for a referral. Often your advisor can speed up the initial appointment time.

Seeking counseling is not something to be ashamed of. The key to being an effective user of counseling is seek out help before your situation gets too dire..