Grinnell bans students from counseling services after missing one appointment

SDonCC
Mon, 07 Feb 2011 13:45:16 +0000

I called Grinnell’s office of health and counseling services to verify this, and it is not entirely as portrayed. Grinnell has its own in-house counseling services, but does not have its own psychiatrist on staff. It brings a doctor on campus for several hours a week, and because this time is limited, if a student does not show up for an appointment, then yes, they are required to use a psychiatrist in town instead going forward.

The counseling services are always available to everyone, though, and the office told me that they always try to leave some intake appointments open so that students can come in on a same day basis if they have not scheduled in advance.

On the Grinnell website, it lists its own staff as including two psychologists and a “staff therapist.” Mental health therapy is often done by psychologists; psychiatrists diagnose and do medication management, and sometimes also do the counseling and therapy, but not always.

I suppose one might argue that Grinnell should increase its budgeting for on-campus psychiatric services, but that’s another story. However, to suggest that students cannot get counseling if they miss an appointment is misleading.

I do think that if a student doesn’t show up for their scheduled appointment, they should be charged the fee. I am saying this as a parent of a current student at Grinnell; if my child made a doctor’s appointment and then didn’t show up, I don’t see why the doctor’s time should go unpaid for.