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Francoise Mathieu, M.Ed
Student Health, Counsellin0 and Disability Services
Queen's University
St Lawrence Building, Ground Floor
Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3NG
Tel: (813) 533~2893
Our aim will be to discuss the many facets of crisis intervention with young adults In a university context. We will focus more particularly on the therapeutic issues facing these clients which may differ from crisis work with adults. Our goal is to share our experience as well as obtain input on some of the problems we have encountered from others in the field.
Queen's University is a mid-sized university located in Kingston, Ontario. The Student Health, Counselling and Disability Services offer many programs including medical care, personal counselling, academic support, career counselling and services for persons with disabilities. Three years ago, the service created the position of crisis counsellor to provide counselling on short notice to students experiencing acute personal crises.
Crisis work with this age group can differ markedly from working with an adult population. Although we see the full gamut of emergencies (suicidal clients, sexual assault, sudden death, traumatic events etc.), some of the emergency situations we have encountered seem, at face value, to pale in comparison to crisis situations presented in community mental health centers outside the college environment. Students may present with difficulty adjusting to university life, homesickness, separation issues with their family, relationship breakups and distress over academic troubles. After following through with these concerns, we have been alerted to the danger of under-responding to such presentations and the need for triage personnel to be sensitized to some of the life events that may take on catastrophic proportions for teens and young adults, and may lead them to desperate measures, such as suicide. We have been struck by the rapid recovery rate of many of our clients, once the seriousness of their problem was recognized and they were given the opportunity to problem-solve with us.