Personal counseling is offered when life’s challenges interfere with a student’s ability to learn.  The Counseling Center offers individual counseling to meet a variety of personal and academic issues.  Most students find that meeting with a counselor between 3-10 sessions is sufficient.  The average number of sessions per student each year is six. However, the total number of sessions will vary depending on the issue(s) you bring to counseling.  If your concerns require more extensive services than are offered at NSU, your counselor can assist you in making an appropriate referral to a community agency.   

Appointments

Students can make an appointment by doing one of the following:

• come to the Counseling Center in the Student Center, room 217 or
• call us at (605) 626-2371.

Appointments typically last 50 minutes and cannot be made via E-mail.

During your first appointment, you will be asked to complete an intake form which provides background for the counselor and read and sign the Informed Consent for Treatment that explains how the Center handles important aspects of counseling such as what you can expect from counseling, your responsibilities in counseling, and confidentiality and its limits.

A disclaimer about electronic mail:
We discourage people from contacting us via e-mail regarding personal problems. The nature of email is such that we can not guarantee the confidentiality of your correspondence, nor do we find email communications as useful as in-depth, face to face contact. Moreover, we can not guarantee that we will read email right away or respond in a timely fashion.

 Crisis Counseling

If you or someone you know needs immediate help, please call Counseling Center at 605-626-2371. For more information on after hours help, please read the Crisis & Emergencies page.

Additional Student Counseling Services:

Confidentiality
Group Counseling

Stress Management Lab

Chemical Health

Referrals

What Students Say

A Division of Student Affairs

Counseling Center
Northern State University
1200 S Jay
Student Center Room 217
Aberdeen, SD  57401
(605) 626-2371