The Novant Health Counseling Services Clinic is a safe, convenient space on campus where we offer compassionate and confidential mental health and wellness services.  Our clinical staff provides high quality individual and group counseling for a wide range of mental health concerns that include, but are not limited to, anxiety, depression, life stress, adjustment, stress, grief/loss, trauma, disordered eating, relationships, building resilience, and wellness practices. We also help connect students with other resources across campus and within the community.

Interested in seeking services?

Email us at: counseling.services@salem.edu. It’s just that simple.

Novant Health – Counseling Services at Salem Academy and College strives to offer a comprehensive, developmental range of services focused on the mental health needs of Salem Academy and College students by providing high quality psychological interventions to promote well-being. The focus of our services include:

• Providing professional clinical services that assist students in their pursuits of both personal and academic goals.
• Providing opportunities for prevention and psychoeducation of our campus community about the psychological and developmental needs and pathways of students through programming, consultation, and referral services.
• Providing response to mental health emergencies for students and the campus community, including facilitation of further assessment for possible hospitalization and crisis debriefing after a traumatic event.

Clients are seen by appointment only. Parents and concerned others are not permitted to schedule appointments on a student’s behalf. Students must initiate care directly on their own. Minor students, under the age of 18, may seek information about our services and are advised that we must have the signed consent of the legal guardian/parent in order to initiate services.

Some students may require services and interventions beyond the scope of clinical care for Counseling Services. Students with the following concerns and characteristics will likely need a different type or level of care than what is within the role and scope of Counseling Services at Salem Academy and College and may include clients who:

• Consistently require services more than once per week and/or frequent emergency intervention after hours that cannot be stabilized with short-term crisis intervention by community supports.
• Present with disordered eating at a level that requires extensive medical monitoring.
• Present with mental health concerns for which a solution-focused, brief therapy model of treatment will not appropriately address.
• Some students may be referred to services other than those offered by Counseling Services and may include:
  • Intensive outpatient or inpatient treatment.
  • Medical detoxification and/or medical stabilization.
  • Court ordered or mandated treatment.
  • Comprehensive psychoeducational assessments (e.g., learning differences, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, etc.).
  • Psychological assessments or evaluations for selection, performance prediction, or forensic purposes (e.g., professional school application, employment security assessment, litigation or legal adjudications).
  • Specialized services beyond the clinical expertise of Counseling Services staff.
  • Students who are unable to comply with treatment (e.g., repeated no shows or late cancellations).
  • Students who are already under the care of another mental health provider.
  • Students seeking therapy for the sole purpose of obtaining documentation for another office or for documentation for an Emotional Support Animal.
  • Students seeking services while away from campus (e.g., away over winter/summer break, outside the State of North Carolina, or studying abroad).

A client who is interested in meeting with the Physician Assistant in Novant Student Health to discuss medication options may also be under the care of our clinicians, in which case we will be glad to assist with coordination of services.

A referral to another agency or person may be recommended and facilitated by Counseling Services to ensure that your needs are met. We will work with you to determine if your concerns are within our scope of practice or if a referral to a community provider would be most appropriate.

Novant Health Counseling Services adheres to North Carolina state statutes and the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics. Information shared with your counselor is held in strict confidence and limits to confidentiality are addressed at the initiation of services as other times as needed. Without written consent, your counselor will not disclose to anyone any information regarding your care.

If you are over 18 years of age, this confidentiality agreement also means that the Counseling Staff cannot communicate with your parents without your signed consent and without reason to communicate with your parent(s). Counseling records are kept separate from educational and student health records.

There are some limits to confidentiality, which include:

1. Duty to warn “when a client’s condition indicates that there is clear and imminent danger to the client or others, the licensed counselor must take reasonable personal action or inform reasonable authorities” (ACA Code of Ethics, Section B.2.a.).
2. When the abuse of a child, elder, disabled person is suspected.
3. When disclosure is made necessary by a court order that is signed by a judge.

The well-being of Salem students is extremely important to us. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency and feel that you may be in danger of hurting yourself or others, you may call 9-1-1 or go directly to the nearest emergency room. Forsyth Medical Center is 3.7 miles away and is located at 3333 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem, NC. Old Vineyard Behavioral Health is 6.7 miles away and is located at 3637 Old Vineyard Road, Winston-Salem, NC. Additional resources include:

• Salem Public Safety 24/7: Dial X5555 from a campus phone or 336.917.5555
• Novant Behavioral Health Call Center, available 24/7/365: Dial 336.718.3550
• The National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Dial 988
• Forsyth County Mobile Crisis/Daymark Recovery Services 24/7/365:  Dial 1-866-275-9552
• Forsyth County Behavioral Evaluation and Response Team (B.E.A.R.): Available 24/7/365 by calling: 336.705.3668 or 9-1-1

You may be experiencing thoughts and feelings that are difficult to process. First, make sure that you are safe. If you are feeling unsafe and may be in danger, call 9-1-1. If you are safe, you have several options for support. Many sexual assault survivors choose to immediately go to an emergency room for medical attention and may choose to seek care from a sexual assault nurse examiner (S.A.N.E. nurse) and may also decide at some point to report the assault to authorities. It is okay to not know what you want to do. You have time to decide. There are several options for support and reporting.

Please consider reading Steps You Can Take After A Sexual Assault.

Please remember these confidential resources on your campus:

• Novant Health Counseling Services
• Novant Health Student Health Services

Please remember this additional resource off-campus:

Bridge to Hope Family Justice Center in Winston Salem: 336.776.3255 or After hours contact the Family Services 24-hour Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Crisis line at 336.723.8125

Please encourage your student to remember that Novant Health Counseling Services is available on campus and that we provide a safe, confidential setting to promote mental health and well-being. Remind your student that getting connected to our clinic is as easy as emailing us at: counseling.services@salem.edu