Our philosophy—no one can solve problems for another person. It is our goal, though, to encourage students as they resolve problem areas and to help them cope with difficulties they are presently experiencing. Our counselors are interested in supporting students as they find solutions. It is the role of the Counseling & Wellness Center counselor to listen, attempt to understand personal perspectives, and to be helpful to the fullest extent of his or her professional training. It is the client’s responsibility to help the counselor learn about his or her life situation, thoughts, and feelings, and to have the courage to try to master identified problem areas.
Free, confidential counseling related to personal growth, human development, and interpersonal relationships is available through the UAB Women's Center and the Counseling & Wellness Center.
An important first step in becoming healthier is to become informed. We want to help. The Counseling & Wellness Center now offers four informative and interactive weekly groups for students: Anger Management, Substance Use Education, Stress—Talk It Out and The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. Each group will consist of five to ten students and meet weekly for 60 – 90 minutes unless otherwise specified in the group description.
Substance Use Education Group
The Substance Use Education Group is designed to get students talking together about ways to reduce or eliminate drug and alcohol problems. This group will be helpful to you whether you use substances occasionally or daily. We will focus on topics such as recovery and the 12-steps, coping skills to reduce stress, anxiety and depression; as well as discussing the stages of addiction. Don’t try to do it alone. We want to help!
Anger Management: The Group
Come join us for a 6-week, 60-minute, anger management group. The goal is to teach you effective strategies for better control of your explosive emotions all the time. We will talk about anger as a natural human emotion, find out how your family may have influenced your reaction style, recognize predictable anger triggers; and also learn about the ABCDs of Anger Management, the 3 Phases of the Aggression Cycle --- so that you can maintain self-control when you need it most.
Stress—Talk it out!
Our lives are constantly changing. Because of this, our bodies experience stress in an attempt to adjust. This stress can have positive as well as negative feelings associated with it. As a positive influence, stress can motivate action; it can result in a greater awareness or an entirely new perspective. On the flip side, stress can generate feelings of distrust, rejection, anger and depression. These feelings can impair your health by causing headaches, stomach problems, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, or strokes. Many situations bring on a certain amount of stress; the death of a friend or family member, the arrival of a new baby, change of jobs, or a new relationship. How we react to it will determine if stress will help or hinder us.
If you are feeling the symptoms of stress, you have exceeded your optimal stress level; you need to reduce the amount of stress you are experiencing and improve your ability to handle it. One way to do this is to join our support group to learn and practice better stress management skills. The group starts on February 10, 2011 at 2pm in the HUC, Room 411. We will plan to get together once each week for six weeks. Let’s talk it out!
NEW Group for Couples: The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work
This psychoeducational group is designed for couples who are BOTH currently enrolled students at UAB. It will be based on John Gottman's book: "The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work." The group is limited to no more than 6 couples (12 participants) at a time. Couples will be interviewed as part of a screening process. It is not intended for couples who are currently experiencing severe relationship discord.
The Couples Group will meet one time each week for 8 consecutive weeks. Each meeting will last 90 minutes. Dates and times are yet to be determined.
If you are interested in learning more about these group opportunities, please contact the Counseling & Wellness Center at 934-5816. Initial assessments will be required prior to enrollment in the groups.
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