Parents & Family Information

A time of transition

College is a period of transition, not only for your child, but for you and the other members of your family. During this time of change your child (student) will continue to need your support. Parents can help by trusting and encouraging independence. Accept that you won't know every detail of your student's life. Most students come to college from a somewhat structured environment. Although your student may never have lived away from you before, it is important to realize that going to college is an exciting and important step in his/her maturation process. The values and ethics you have instilled will help your student make good choices and decisions. It is extremely helpful to talk about this with your student throughout their first year at the institution. Your child is living in an environment where staff understand the developmental process and transitional issues experienced by college students. Although UConn can seem like a large place, staff members can help students adjust to life here. This requires some effort on the part of your student, as staff depend on students to come forward if they need assistance.

How to identify or decide if my child needs counseling?

Role of CMHS

CMHS offers students individual therapy, couples therapy, group therapy, medication evaluation and monitoring, and emergency services. If a student needs services that CMHS does not provide, for example long term treatment, CMHS Staff will work with students on referring to other resources on campus or in the community. The focus of service is short term (up to 8 individual sessions per academic year, no limit on group therapy).

How to help your child seek counseling

Talk to your child about seeking support, work with them on initiating services – it all starts with a phone call.

If you are concerned about your child's emotional or mental wellbeing and they are not responsive to your suggestion for counseling give us a call and we can talk with you about further options.

If you are concerned about your child's safety you may contact Residential Life staff or the Dean of Students Office.

If you suspect your child might have engaged in life threatening behaviors or has made a threat of harm to self or others; and/or their whereabouts are unknown to you, notify UConn Police. Information that is helpful in addressing such an emergency is: last time of contact; concerning statements; contributing stressors; knowledge of substance use; medical concerns; knowledge of access to weapons; any previous history of life-threatening behaviors.

Limits of information

All contacts with Student Health Services/Counseling & Mental Health Services are strictly confidential in accordance with Connecticut state privacy laws. Records are not available to individuals or agencies, either on or off campus, without a student's specific written permission. CMHS records are kept separately from medical records but are available to Student Health Services providers on a need-to-know basis. Copies of psychiatric medication prescriptions, laboratory reports, and a notation that there is a CMHS record are in the Student Health Services medical record. By law and by professional codes of ethics, confidentiality is only broken by a therapist when 1) the student is in imminent danger of harm to self or others 2) a therapist suspects abuse or neglect of a child under the age of 18 or other dependent or 3) a court orders a record. Even in these cases, we will try our best to work with the student in communicating this information to other parties. In accordance with university policy, CMHS records are destroyed after seven years.