WELLNESS SERVICES
Alma College
Counseling and Wellness Center
Wilcox Medical Center
At the Counseling and Wellness Center (CWC) we think of wellness as an active process that allows students to make positive choices in creating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It includes a proactive, positive approach to life and health that helps to maximize an individual's potential.
Our Goal
Wellness services at Alma College are a collaboration between the Counseling and Wellness Center and the Wilcox Medical Center. Our goal is to promote the health and well-being of our students through the delivery of programs and services that enable them accomplish their academic goals and enhance personal development. We believe that wellness should be a conscious choice and is associated with emotional stability, improved personal relationships and good physical health.
Counseling Services
Our philosophy
Although no one can solve problems for another person, our goal at the CWC is to support and encourage students as they work to resolve problem areas as they cope with difficult situations.
Our licensed counselors are interested in supporting students as they find solutions. It is the role of the CWC counselor to listen to our student-client, attempt to understand personal perspectives, and to be helpful to the fullest extent of his or her professional training. As our client, it is your responsibility to help the counselor learn about your life situation, thoughts, and feelings, and to have the courage to try to master identified problem areas.
The CWC provides free, confidential counseling related to personal growth, human development, and interpersonal relationships. Personal (non-academic) counseling services are provided by Licensed Professional Counselors to currently enrolled Alma College students. Our staff also provides educational programs on wellness issues, alcohol, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other mental health issues that affect college students.
Services include individual, group and relationship counseling. We are skilled in working with the college students who are experiencing difficulty due to adjustment, depression, stress, anxiety, uncertainty about the future, relationship issues, substance use and abuse concerns, and many more. Students may also come to the CWC strictly for information. Students often consult with CWC counselors over roommate concerns or issues involving friends and family members, or they might simply need information for a class presentation or an essay. Student privacy is very important to us. The CWC adheres to strict confidentiality guidelines. Please read our Informed Consent Form which is discussed with each student prior to counseling.
Our website also includes information and links toself-tests on depression, anxiety and nutrition and other self-awareness inventories. You can take them privately and, if you have any concerns about the results, give us a call and speak to a counselor. One especially useful test to take is the Mystudentbody.com an interactive web-based test that gives you practical feedback on your alcohol use.
Health Services
The goal of our Medical Center staff is to provide a variety of health related services to the campus community, in a clinic setting. These services include primary health care such as immunizations, acute illness care, women's health care, diet and nutrition, treatment of minor injuries, public health issues, and mental health concerns. In providing these services, an emphasis is placed on health education, illness prevention, and encouraging healthy lifestyle choices. Health Services also serves as a resource for health education materials. Our staff welcomes the opportunity to consult with students wishing to take personal responsibility for their own health and wellness or seeking information for classes and presentations.
Our affiliation with Mid Michigan Regional Medical Center-Gratiot enables our staff to access other local providers and specialists should referrals become necessary.
Outreach
Prevention is also a priority. We recognize that many problems might be minimized or even avoided if information or help had been provided before a crisis was reached. Therefore, our counselors and medical staff are also available for presentations and offer groups on a variety of issues such as stress reduction, healthy life-choices, lowering risks of problems with alcohol, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other mental health issues that affect our students. We are happy to provide programming for residence halls, classes, clubs and organizations, and community groups in order to share a prevention or educational message.
Some of our offerings
- Healthy life choices
- Stress education/management
- Alcohol and drug abuse prevention, assessment and referral
- Sexuality & sexual health issues
- Wellness education
- Test anxiety
- Homesickness
- College adjustment
- Self exploration
