[Canidistant]

So, I’m new to this site, and was hoping to get feedback on a question.

Trying not to be too specific and to be trigger conscious: I have been working with a therapist for a while now. The first time I began working with her, I was having suicidal thoughts, which scared me, but I was never able to disclose that info to her, and ended up kinda falling out of therapy, not getting the help I needed (no surprise). I then began seeing her again a year later (currently still am) for help with grief/loss, and my self-injury problems that had developed. Over the last couple months, I was improving in my mood, and the self-harm was decreasing. We scheduled my next appointment out 3 weeks.

This week a negative life event occurred, and it felt like the positive attitude, and progress I had been developing cracked wide open, and everything I was struggling with was still there, under the surface. I am having general ideation again (after a year and a half or so), and am mentally and physically exhausted everyday.

I know I need to tell someone this time, but I'm not sure I should wait until my next appointment. There are university campus counselors that I can talk to, and any appointments with them are covered by my tuition… but I guess I’m scared to talk with them. Is it weird to talk with a campus counselor when I am already working with a therapist? Does anyone have any experience with campus counseling services for a situation like this? My irrational fear is that disclosing this with someone university-related will result in my getting kicked out of classes or something to that effect…

Does your therapist allow out-of-session contact via email? I'm guessing not, or you would probably have emailed her.

Normally, I think a client would call their therapist in a case like this. Unless your therapist has said she doesn't allow it, that would be my first thing to do.

I'm hoping that someone who has experience seeing campus counselors will answer this post. If you do end up talking to a campus counselor, you could summarize what's going on with you without discussing suicidal ideation or self-harm. Other people may say that's a bad idea.

I think you're probably going to have to either talk to your campus counseling center or find their guidelines written down somewhere (maybe on their website?) to tell you what their rules are about discussing certain subjects.

I'd like to say that the progress you had made is not necessarily gone. Sometimes we have setbacks and it's not accessible to us, and that can be very frustrating. I'm having a period like that at the moment myself.

Sometimes events just knock us off-course for a bit. When a little time has passed, and you've had a chance to discuss and digest what has happened, I hope that you'll find that your progress is still there.

Hugs.

[Nammu]

If you were bleeding would you insist on only letting your reg doc patch you up? I hope that doesn't come across wrong but what I mean is that this is an emergency even if you aren't planing on acting on suicidal thoughts. As long as you are up front with the counselors on campus and tell them you just need a support until your appointment I think that's what they are there for. To support the students.

If you have an emergency number or email for your reg therapist call. When you see your reg therapist maybe discuss what you should do in a crisis and develop a plan for next time. Even if you never use it again it's nice to know that there's a plan.

[dontevenknow]

Hello!
I assume the therapist you see is not through your school but rather an outside provider?
The therapist I see is through my university counseling services...
If seeing your therapist sooner is not an option, maybe it is worth it to see if your campus counselor has an early availability (sometimes they are crazy busy).

As far as disclosing to someone university-related:
In general counseling/health records will be kept confidential if no other actions need to be taken. For example, if you need medical leave or are sent to the hospital that would be different bc the university would need to approve of that and you coming back.

I have had similar fears, not about getting kicked out of school, but of getting sent to the hospital. A good way to handle it is to ask right away. So you can go in and ask the counselor what their policy is if a student is doing this or thinking that. If you phrase it as a hypothetical question rather than a personal admission you can gage what their reaction will be and any potential consequences.
When I switched counselors I asked her what her threshold was for sending people to the hospital, like does she do it often and why.

The only other problem could be that this counselor would not have any background. It would depend on you and what you were struggling with. I have difficulty opening up to people and telling them what my past/current struggles are so I don't think I would benefit much from one session to get support. But again, if you feel this is worthwhile and what you need to get the help you need it is totally worth a try!

Like the previous poster suggested maybe try reaching out to your current T if that is an option. If not, it may be beneficial to go talk to someone if you feel that would help you feel better.

Take care darling.

[Canidistant]

Out-of-session contact has never come up or been discussed, and I don't want to cross boundaries...

My regular therapist is an outside provider. It has taken a lot for me to open up to her, and I still struggle to say what I need to.
I don't know whether I'd be able to actually reveal any of this, and one get-to-know-you session with a campus counselor probably won't be super helpful...