<p>I was just wondering if anyone's child had used the on campus counseling services?</p>
<p>We are from the North East, so needless to say my son is quite a distance from home. He's had some pretty significant (and unexpected) bouts with both homesickness and anxiety since starting school this past August.</p>
<p>The issue came to a head this past weekend and I decided to go down to Florida to try to help him through some of this. Inclusive of this, I'd like to get him some counseling. One would think that on campus counseling would have considerable experience helping students with homesickness and anxiety, but that doesn't mean that performance matches perceived experience.</p>
<p>If anyone has any first hand experience with the services they were willing to share, I'd be very grateful. I'm wondering if I should seek services on campus or if I should seek off campus help for him.</p>
<p>I received a number of private messages each with some very good information.</p>
<p>I went down to FSU to see what I could do to help my son navigate some of the “homesickness” he was experiencing. In the end I think he was a lot more “lonely” than he was homesick. He’s a pretty outgoing kid but hasn’t found “his people” yet.</p>
<p>When I went down there it didn’t help that he was also getting physically sick on top of all the other stuff. I soon figured out that MANY on campus are sick, so it was no surprise. </p>
<p>As for the physically sick, I have to say, while the building certainly is impressive, I wasn’t impressed with the Thagard Health Center. My son is a vocalist at the college of music. He went to the health center barely able to talk his throat was so sore and a KILLER sinus infection. We went on Thursday. They had him see the triage nurse and he was given an appointment for the following Friday? 8 days to get a sick visit? And they wonder why all these kids are sick? I took him to the walk-in as soon as we got out of there. Had and antibiotic in hand within 2hrs and was feeling considerably better by Sunday (5days before his appointment on campus).</p>
<p>Conversely, I have to say I was very impressed with the Counseling center. He was able to go over for a walk-in appointment. Granted we had to wait a while but he was able to see someone that day. They talked for a while and my son seemed to take well to the counselor. They set up for, what the counselor called a “full intake” appointment about a week later. My son has since gone to that appointment and his outlook is much better. Much more positive. He will continue going bi-weekly for one on one sessions and get into some group therapy as well. Obviously they see many students who are having a problem adjusting to this new chapter and they seem to handle it all very well.</p>
<p>All in all it was a productive trip and I’d encourage anyone who’s student is having a difficult time getting into the groove to speak with the people at the counseling center on campus. I’m sure this isn’t all behind my son yet, but he’s certainly headed in a much better direction than he was a couple weeks ago.</p>
<p>Yeah the Wellness Center isn’t that great I have to admit. I got very sick like the rest of campus. I was sick for an entire month, which is ridiculous if you ask me. The medication I was given was a waste of time. I was give an inhaler for acute bronchitis which cost me $40, and as a college student I was not pleased to have to pay that amount.
I still didn’t get better, in fact I got worse. So bad that I drove over 4 hours to see a local doctor where I live and missed a crucial week of classes. I got seen right away by my GP and was diagnosed with bronchitis, and was give a z-pack. I had bronchitis, not acute bronchitis and wasted $40 on a prescription inhaler I never needed thanks to the useless folks at the Wellness Center.</p>
<p>At least the Counceling Services are excellent otherwise I would have lost my mind with everything that has been going on since I started this Fall Semester. Seriously that is really good to hear your son has continued seeing the counselor and is improving! The free counseling on campus has been beyond everything I could have hoped for in counseling better than the therapy my parents paid for when I was dealing with certain other things when I was in HS several years ago.
Soon enough he’ll find his place and will put yours and his mind/worries at rest. :)</p>
<p>My son has health insurance through the school (Florida Blue Care?). We went to the Patients First Walk-in on Monroe. Actually we saw a few other FSU Students while we were there. In the end it took two trips there to get the medicine quite right, but he was practically over the sickness before the date of his on campus appointment.</p>
<p>It was a $50 co-pay for the walk-in visit, but well worth the two visits. I definitely didn’t want him missing more classes due to illness as it seems you had to.</p>