Scope of Service

Student Counseling Service (SCS) offers services which are provided by licensed clinicians or supervised clinicians in training, within an appropriate scope of care, meaning delivering services consistent with level of training, experience, competence and stated intent. Services are provided to students appropriate for short-term or brief outpatient mental health care while they are enrolled as eligible students at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFUMS). If it is determined that a student requires services outside of SCS’s scope of care, clinicians will assist students by providing appropriate community referrals.

SCS will provide the following services to students of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science:

• Individual Counseling (Face-to-Face and/or Tele-Psychotherapy)
• Group Counseling (Face-to-Face and/or Tele-Psychotherapy)
• Crisis Interventions (Face-to-Face and/or Tele-Psychotherapy as appropriate)
• Outreach Presentations (Face-to-Face and/or Tele-Psychotherapy)
• Consultations (Face-to-Face and/or Tele-psychotherapy)

Short-term or brief individual counseling

SCS provides short-term or brief individual counseling. SCS invites all eligible students to make an appointment to meet with an intake clinician and discuss their concerns. The team at SCS, while mindful of student preferences and goals, will determine if services at SCS will best serve the student’s needs or if a community referral would be more appropriate.

Concerns commonly addressed in short-term counseling:

• Personal Concerns: Stress, anxiety, depression, anger, loneliness, guilt, self-esteem, grief
• Relationship Concerns: Romantic relationship difficulties, sexual concerns, roommate, friend or co-worker conflicts, concerns with family
• Developmental Concerns: Sexual/Gender identity development, adjustment, life transitions
• Academic Concerns: Performance anxiety, perfectionism, underachievement, motivation
• Cultural concerns: Impact of oppression/discrimination, intersectionality, 1^st generation challenges, concerns of race/ethnicity, gender, other equality
• Other Concerns: Spiritual concerns, traumatic events, lifestyle choices, body image/food preoccupation, alcohol and drug use concerns, sexual assault, referral information, treatment recommendations, crisis intervention

Crisis Intervention

Crisis intervention services are offered to all eligible students. For students experiencing a crisis, Student Counseling Service has a walk-in crisis hour available between noon-1p.m. Monday-Friday.

Exclusions to Care

SCS’s scope of care has certain exclusions. The list of exclusions below are guidelines only. Please note that not all clinical concerns are appropriate for tele-psychotherapy services.

Examples of clinical concerns that may need to be addressed through a community referral include but are not limited to

• Individuals with chronic mental health conditions that require longer-term, ongoing care
• The need to be seen more frequently than SCS can accommodate (beyond 2-3 times per month for individual counseling)
• Excessive utilization of walk-in services indicating standard session frequency is inadequate
• Chronic suicidality and/or recent history of multiple suicide attempts
• Severe and chronic self-injury
• A history of multiple psychiatric hospitalizations

Concerns that require more specialized care than can be provided at SCS

• Significant or chronic disordered eating symptoms
• Significant or chronic substance use/abuse which compromises therapy or physical health and well-being including any need for drug testing
• Active symptoms of psychosis and/or delusions at risk for progressive deterioration
• Individuals with a history of longstanding, seriously maladaptive interpersonal behaviors that result in severe relationship problems which hinder effective work in treatment

Services not provided at SCS

• Comprehensive psychological evaluation of any type, including but not limited to:
  • Neuropsychological evaluations
  • Forensic assessments, including but not limited to custody disputes, fitness to stand trial, or not guilty by reason of insanity arguments
  • Custody evaluations
  • State/Federal benefit programs, including vocational rehabilitation and Social Security/ disability
  • Pre-surgical mental health evaluations
  • Excuse or Clearance for Employment and/or Fitness-for-duty evaluations
  • Any comprehensive psychological assessment (i.e. ADHD evaluation)
• Requests for assessment, treatment, or documentation for overall legal concerns (except if records are requested) which can include but are not limited to the following:
  • Counseling ordered through legal proceedings, such as substance abuse treatment, alcohol education, anger management, parenting education, or domestic violence treatment
  • Child Custody/Parenting/Adoption
  • Fitness to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity arguments
• Requests for assessment, treatment, or documentation for the purpose of academic, employment, military and other fitness for duty related purposes
• Requests for assessment, treatment, or documentation required by employers, government agencies, academic faculty or departments, or third-party requestors
• Requests for assessment, treatment, or documentation required for the purpose of emotional support or service animals, housing accommodation requests, or disability accommodations*

Additional limitations

• Lack of motivation or engagement in treatment, as evidenced by:
  • Unwillingness to provide information sufficient for clinical treatment (i.e. current location when providing tele-psychotherapy)
  • Inability to identify treatment goal(s) appropriate for therapy
  • Inconsistent attendance as evidenced by multiple cancellations or no shows in a quarter
  • Attending sessions when intoxicated or under the influence of drugs
  • Poor compliance with treatment recommendations
  • Failure to follow through with recommended treatment in the context of multiple crisis intervention sessions
• Individuals who are already receiving counseling services from another provider and do not end that treatment
• Individuals whose needs fall outside the clinical expertise of the SCS clinicians
• Individuals who engage in inappropriate, harassing, menacing, stalking, threatening or violent behaviors toward other students, SCS clinicians or staff, or RFUMS employees
• When clinicians determine that treatment would be detrimental to the student or to the proper functioning of SCS
• Other situations that are determined to be outside the scope of services as defined by the SCS team or SCS Director

*Disability Accommodations

The providers at SCS are unable to provide documentation for accommodation as we do not conduct psychological assessment at SCS. We engage in a treatment relationship with students; the relationship was not established to provide additional services, such as a psychological assessment for documentation of disability, as per SCS scope or care and informed consent. We can provide a Summary of Treatment document, which summarizes salient information regarding the care the student received, such as attendance, diagnosis and clarification, student reported functional limitations and student requested accommodations. Should this be helpful, students complete a request electronically. We can also complete any forms students might request for us to complete, but with the qualifiers that we are engaged in a treatment relationship. We can provide this or a Summary of Treatment after students have had at least 3 current and consistent meetings with SCS. Students must be currently active in treatment to receive a Summary of Treatment or other documentation from a SCS provider.

If Student Counseling Service cannot provide treatment, appropriate community referrals will be made. Please note: RFUMS SCS cannot be used as a treatment referral source or aftercare following an inpatient or Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) or Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) psychiatric stay.

Illinois licensure laws also require that students seeking counseling at RFUMS SCS, including online counseling, must be physically present in the state of Illinois at the time of receiving services.

This description of the Student Counseling Service scope of service is intended only as a guideline. The nature and complexity of presenting concerns and the broader context in which concerns arise are considered when making the appropriate treatment recommendation(s). Cases are evaluated individually, and the professional judgment of the SCS clinicians will always determine the treatment decision in a particular situation.