The Student Counseling Center (SCC) provides primarily short-term therapy designed to ameliorate personal and developmental concerns that students may face.  Our services are designed for immediate problems that have arisen recently and can be expected to resolve quickly. While there is not a predetermined session limit, the overwhelming majority of SCC clients attend six sessions or fewer.  Appointments are generally scheduled every 2-3 weeks.

Some challenges are not amenable to short-term treatment. Long-standing emotional or behavioral difficulties (such as chronic suicidality, moderate to severe anxiety or depression, eating disorders, history of significant trauma, to name a few) are typically beyond the scope of the services we can provide.  As such, SCC can assist students in connecting with psychotherapists and psychiatric providers in the community to receive the appropriate level of treatment. Students who have attended ongoing therapy in the past often benefit from establishing a relationship with a community provider to ensure they receive the care they need. Community providers are usually the best option for students who need longer-term treatment or who are not likely to benefit from time-limited care.

New students who will be joining the MICA community (and their parents) should carefully consider the support they will need as they transition to meeting the demands of a rigorous art school environment.  While often exciting, this transition may also be stressful. Students who have had the ongoing support of a counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist in the past are likely to benefit from a similar level of psychological and/or psychiatric support--at least during their first semester. In these instances, SCC strongly recommends that parents and students establish a relationship with a provider in the community before coming to campus to ensure students have access to ample support in the first weeks of classes.  An online resource that may be useful is http://www.transitionyear.org/.  Also, the SCC Case Manager is available to meet with students during the academic year to help facilitate finding a provider in the community.