About Us

Counseling Services offers counseling services at no additional cost to all currently enrolled Louisiana Tech students. Counselors provide group and individual counseling for crisis, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, interpersonal issues, study skills development issues, etc.

Mental-health practitioners are defined as any individual who provides mental health care or social services, including diagnosis, assessment, counseling, or treatment, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, marriage or family counselor, social worker, member of the clergy, elder, or other individual who provides counseling services to a child or their family. Depending on your initial consultation and your counselor's needs, you may be placed in a small group with individuals who have similar presenting concerns. Counselor needs may change during your treatment. The counseling staff comprises licensed and pre-licensed counselors, licensed and pre-licensed psychologists, and doctoral and master 's-level practicum students. Our training is comprehensive and encompasses a wide range of counseling approaches. Each staff member has had training and specific experience and/or is being supervised while working with college students. If you schedule an initial consultation online, you may not be assigned to that counselor for therapy; it depends on the counselor’s availability and the presenting concerns. Clinical judgment will be used when placing someone with a long-term clinician.

Ethics and Confidentiality Policies

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law that requires national standards for the security and privacy of health data transmitted electronically. Compliance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule and Security Rules are triggered when a provider or billing service acting on behalf of a provider transmits information in electronic form in connection with a standard transaction such as health care claim. Louisiana Tech University Counseling Services diligently protects the security and privacy of client data to meet or exceed standards set by HIPAA.

Confidentiality and privileged communication are addressed under the Louisiana Mental Health Counselor Licensing Act (L.R.S. 37:1114; latest 1999) and Louisiana Administrative Code, Title 46, Professional and Occupational Standards, Part LX. All records and counselor’s notes concerning the counseling process and procedures are for the counselor’s professional use and are not a part of any other university permanent record. Seven years after your last contact with us, your files will be destroyed.

Data collected in the initial consult process may be used best to assess the needs of the student body population and for quality assurance purposes. Data may also be presented in aggregate nationally.

Counseling Services does provide notes. Please allow 3 business days for processing.

Louisiana ACT 157 Notification Policy

In accordance with Louisiana ACT 157, Counseling Services may release information to a
designated emergency contact when a student provides written consent and identifies a contact person. If the student has consented and provided this contact, Counseling Services will notify Dean Stacy Gilbert, who will then initiate communication with the identified individual. This policy ensures timely notification and support in situations where student safety may be at risk, while maintaining compliance with confidentiality standards and ethical guidelines.

E-mail is not a secure confidential form of communication; Counseling Services cannot ensure the confidentiality of e-mail messages. Counselors discourage the disclosure of sensitive information. Clinical services and responses to clinical inquiries will not be conducted via e-mail. If you are in need of counseling services, please call 318.257.2488.

Your counselors will provide you with a card with their name and after hour emergency phone number. In case of an after-hour life-threatening emergency, you may phone Louisiana Tech Police 318.257.4018, and they will contact the counselor on duty. If you need immediate and continuous crisis care you should go to the local emergency room and ask to speak to a mental health professional.

Mandated Reporting Ethics Policy

Counselors of Louisiana Tech University Counseling Services are mandatory reporters of abuseof children, the elderly, and the disabled. Louisiana Tech Counseling Services counselors are required to be familiar with the compulsory reporting laws in the State of Louisiana. Counselors acknowledge the limitations of confidentiality surrounding mandated reporting with clients in the first sessions. This is addressed and reviewed throughout the therapeutic process. When a counselor becomes aware of a need to report, they may be required to inform the proper authority.

Louisiana ACT 157 Notification Policy

In compliance with Louisiana Act 157, when a student has given written consent and identified a contact person, Counseling Services will release information to that designated individual through Dean Stacy Gilbert. This step is only taken if the student has provided explicit consent and a contact name. This policy aims to ensure that families, guardians, or other trusted individuals are informed in situations involving student safety, while upholding confidentiality standards and ethical practices.