Amy is excited to be starting her freshman year at the U. She has decided to join a sorority, following in the footsteps of her older sister. Four weeks into the first semester, Amy starts to feel the stress of adjusting to college life as well as working part time. Because this is Amy’s first time away from home, she feels a bit homesick and lonely.
Maria is a first-generation college student attending the U on an academic scholarship. Maria comes from a close-knit family that has made many sacrifices to give her the opportunity to attend college. As a result, Maria sometimes feels guilty about being in school while her family struggles with day-to-day living.
Ella is recently divorced from her husband of 15 years. She has three school-aged children and struggles to provide the basic necessities for her family. In an effort to obtain a more financially secure future for her family, Ella has decided to return to school. However, she lacks the family and social support for her decision to resume her education.
Tyrone came to the Women’s Resource Center to seek help for his relationship. Tyrone is not comfortable with the male role models in his social circle or popular culture. He seeks a way to implement his true values about relationships while maintaining his identity as a man.
These narratives are examples of the struggles that some clients of the Women’s Resource Center bring to counseling. The Women’s Resource Center sees clients from a broad range of cultural backgrounds, races, ages, sexual and gender identities.
The Women’s Resource Center, located on the Union’s fourth floor, offers a broad range of counseling services and advocacy. Counseling at the Women’s Resource Center occurs within a feminist, multicultural framework. In this approach to counseling, life experiences, concerns and emotional distress are explored in the context of gender, power, trauma and cultural influences. We believe that our clients are the experts on their own life experiences. We work corroboratively with our clients to help them respond in healthy ways to life stresses and to explore more authentic ways of expressing themselves. Our goal is to empower our clients to make choices that best meet their needs and serve their interests.
Social and political forces often influence how we respond and cope. An exploration of these social and political forces and their impact is unique to feminist, multicultural counseling. Although our specialty is working with women, our services are also available to men. In all of our work, we investigate the impact of gender socialization on the lives of both women and men. Licensed professionals and advanced graduate students in counseling, social work and counseling psychology provide counseling at the center. Our individual counseling is open to students, faculty and staff.
The Women’s Resource Center also offers a variety of support and discussion groups where women find a safe place to discover and reclaim their true selves. This year, our groups include Hand to Hand, a general women’s support group; Finding Voice, a group for women of color; Body Politics, a group focusing on women food and body image; and LBQQ, a group for lesbian, bi-sexual, queer and questioning women. Our groups are open to women at the U and in the community.
All of our counseling services are provided on the basis of a sliding fee scale and no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please stop by and check out our new location in Union 411, our services and our yummy candy basket. We hope to see you soon!