Office of Counseling and Wellness

What is counseling?

Counseling is a process in which you work with a professionally trained counselor in becoming a healthier human being in all aspects of life: Emotional, Intellectual, Physical, and Spiritual.
Counseling is:

• A voluntary activity. Whether you decide to return for more sessions is up to you.
• A confidential discussion about a situation, problem, relationship, family issue, or habit that you want to change.
• A positive step you can take when you get stuck in life.
• An educational and growth oriented experience.
• An active collaboration with your counselor to find workable solutions to life barriers, not one in which a counselor "fixes" you.

COVID-19 Update

In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, QCC President Padraja has encouraged offices to transition to remote services.    

1. The Office of Counseling and Wellness has decided to conduct counseling check in and triage sessions remotely, by phone- effective immediately, with the intention to move to telehealth video platform when it becomes available. We will remain “virtually” open during regular business hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 
2. All students who are new to Counseling must request an appointment by sending an email to twells [at] qcc.mass.edu 
3. For current and ongoing students, I will be available to continue our scheduled counseling sessions online through the end of the semester and/or discuss options for referral to other providers.
4. Staff are able to request student concern consultations via email and we will schedule an appointment time for a phone call.
5. Here is some helpful information about coping: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/coping.html

Counseling Services Mission

The QCC Counseling and Wellness office is dedicated to promoting the emotional health and well-being of the QCC Community.  Here at QCC, we recognize each student's individuality, diversity and their inherent ability to manage and solve their own life issues.  

Our mission is to help students to achieve their personal and academic goals by providing assessment of current concerns, appropriate advocacy/support, information about resources or coping skills/tools and transition to local or college based resources when needed. The Counseling and Wellness office will provide short term, solution focused therapy, crisis intervention and stress management training.  The services are provided to students at no cost and are confidential.

What type of services do we offer?

Counseling and Wellness services are short-term, and solution-focused. For those students looking for a more long-term relationship with a counselor, we can assist in the facilitation of a referral to a therapist in the nearby Worcester community. We operate from a student-centered perspective, in which the student takes an active role in his or her treatment. Our therapeutic services are primarily strength-based, with emphasis on behavior-based problem solving.

Some students experience needs outside the scope of our services, for example: conditions requiring close coordination with psychiatrists or other providers; conditions with persistent symptoms of risk to personal safety; and conditions requiring access to therapists outside of normal business hours. These students are encouraged to consult with us for an assessment of their symptoms, and assistance with a referral to mental health providers in the community.  

Reasons to request counseling

In the past, QCC students have spoken with a counselor about:

• Difficulty adjusting to life at QCC, Worcester, and/or the United States
• Stress: too much to do, too many demands, not enough time
• Family or relationship problems
• Alcohol and substance abuse
• Coping with grief or loss
• Coping with racial/ethnic bigotry or discrimination
• Relationship violence/sexual assault
• Sexuality/sexual identity
• Concerns about a friend or family member
• Coping with a traumatic incident
• Anxiety and worry