Making a Referral for Additional Help

When you have determined that a person might benefit from other services, it is usually best to speak directly to the person in a caring, supportive manner. Here are some things you might share with a person when making a referral:

  1. Help is available.
  2. Seeking help is a sign of strength and courage rather than a sign of weakness or failure.
  3. Remind the person that seeking professional help for other problems (medical, legal, car problems, etc.) is considered good judgment and an appropriate use of resources.
  4. If possible, prepare the person for what they might expect if they follow your suggestion. Tell them what you know about the referral person or service you are recommending.

It is often a good idea to FOLLOW-UP with a person after the referral was made. Check to see how they are doing and if they kept their appointment.

Please CONSULT when in doubt about the appropriateness of an intervention, call the Assistant Dean of Students office (532-6432), Counseling Services (532-6927), or call the University Police Department (532-6412). Take all suicidal expressions seriously. A person whose behavior has become threatening, violent or significantly disruptive may need a different kind of approach.

If a person is reluctant to seek additional or professional help...

While it is important to care about the emotional well-being of others, we cannot make their decisions for them, and people are often reluctant to seek more formal help. Here are some ideas for encouraging the reluctant person:

  1. Normalize the process of seeking help. This may be especially helpful for international students whose countries may not have similar views of seeking help.
  2. Reassure the person that the resources you have suggested work with people with a wide range of concerns.
  3. Remind the person that successful people seek support. For example, over the years data gathered at KSU Counseling Services has shown that students with GPA’s about 3.0 seek counseling in greater numbers than students with lower GPA’s and that seeking support increased a person’s likelihood of succeeding school.
  4. Problems need not reach crisis proportions for a person to benefit from professional help. Suggest to a person that it is often easier to work on problems if they are addressed before they reach crisis level.
  5. Reluctant people might also be relieved to know that they can often talk with other resources on a one-time basis without making a commitment to further contact.
  6. Students may be relieved to hear that at some sites (Counseling Services, Women’s Center, etc.) any contact and information shared by the student is kept confidential and will not be disclosed to parents, faculty, other University departments, or even you, except with the student’s written permission.