The purpose of COPE is to provide support for students who are waiting for their scheduled intake. This is a time set aside for you to consult with a therapist while you are waiting to get started in therapy. It is designed to address immediate problems and how to manage them and will be structured in a way that provides each member an opportunity to check-in and to share current stresses and receive feedback. It will provide both emotional support as well as ideas for how to handle life stresses. Appointments are needed. There is no expectation that students return for future COPE sessions, but students may attend COPE once/week until they are seen for their intake appointment.
COPE is not considered a replacement for individual therapy, rather it is additional support for students who have immediate needs in an effort to avoid crises. In the event of an emergency or if you feel that you are unable to keep yourself safe, please call an emergency hotline 1-800-273-TALK (8255), the Ball State crisis number (765) 747-7330, or you may go straight to the emergency room.
As a participant in COPE it is expected that confidentiality will be maintained by all who attend. This includes discussions in session as well as seeing each other outside of session. In addition, students will be attentive to each other and will not criticize other participants. Ideally, everyone will benefit by sharing their problems and also sharing how they have successfully managed problems similar to others.