Counseling and Advocacy Center

The mission of the Counseling & Advocacy Center is to provide services which help students overcome life challenges to achieve academic success and attain their educational goals. We provide a full array of counseling services including personal, mental health, substance abuse, career, academic and relationship concerns. We offer crisis intervention including victim and gender advocacy, services for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender students, prevention and education programs, a Women and Gender’s Resource Library and aid for students with emergency needs through a food pantry and emergency fund.

Sometimes life’s challenges feel overwhelming. The Counseling & Advocacy Center can help you develop answers to personal difficulties through short term individual counseling. We provide support for you to find solutions and feel better. Some concerns that students seek counseling for include:

• Academic Stress
• Relationship Problems
• Career Guidance
• Depression and Anxiety
• Grief and Loss
• Substance Abuse Recovery
• Smoking Cessation
• Suicidal Thoughts

Specialized care is provided through our Women and Gender Advocacy services. Advocacy services include many personal supports and education programs for persons of all genders on issues such as violence prevention, sexual harassment, sexual assault, relationship violence, affectional orientation and gender identity. We provide information and individual assistance which permits students to explore gender concerns from gender identity to gender equity and discover answers that fit their career objectives and personal values. Women’s advocacy services empowers women to overcome the experience of gender discrimination and abuse.  Through our Women and Gender’s Resource Library, women are empowered to understand and address many gender concerns including life balance and relationship equity.

Sexual harassment, sexual assault, relationship violence and stalking are all crimes of power and control.  They are a violation of Title IX protections for students and not tolerated on our campus. If you are the victim of one of these crimes, we can help you reclaim your power through nonjudgmental support and advocacy. As a survivor, you have the right to decide towho to talk to and choose if and when to report the assault; you decide how you want to proceed.

The Counseling and Advocacy Center is a strong ally for members of the LGBTQIA community. We advise the OQS Diversity Club, our gay-straight Alliance on campus. We provide support including:

• Title IX Assistance
• Individual Counseling

Making life better through educational programs that address issues of concerns to students is an essential part of the work of the Counseling & Advocacy Center. Our counselors are available to provide workshops and programs to create awareness and understanding on a broad range of advocacy, mental health and healthy lifestyle issues.  We provide education through:

• Women’s Resource Library
• Workshops and Events
• The Inclusive Voice Newsletter
• Active Minds Student Club
• Self-care for student success

• Blue's Kitchen Cabinet Food Pantry
• Student Emergency Services

A person is in crisis when their ability to act and think clearly is impaired and they are unable to cope with problems.  Crisis situations may include but are not limited to:

• Suicidal or Self Harming thoughts
• News of the death of a loved one
• Experiencing a traumatic event
• Physical or Sexual Assault
• Relationship Violence