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Thank you for your question. You are obviously very concerned about your sibling and want the best for him/her. It is a standard of clinical care in professional psychology that the best treatment for anxiety/depression involves both medication and counseling. Unfortunately, your brother/sister is only getting part of the treatment that could be helpful to him/her, and that part, medication, seems to be problematic at present. First, because it seems that there may be problems regarding his/her medication, it would make sense that your brother/sister should consult with his/her psychiatrist regarding this issue. If your brother/sister is not happy with his/her psychiatrist, he/she should seek consultation with a different psychiatrist. There are psychiatrists at the University Health Service at NIU who might be helpful in this regard. Second, regarding counseling, I am sorry to hear that your brother/sister was forced to seek counseling in the past. This often results in a negative experience and outcome. Clearly, you brother/sister has good reason to be skeptical about counseling based on such coercion, even if well-intended. The chances of a more positive experience with counseling are greatly enhanced if counseling is voluntarily chosen. Supporting your brother/sister by encouraging him/her to consider counseling now may be helpful if you clearly communicate to him/her that this should be his/her decision. It might help to let him/her know about the Counseling and Student Development Center (CSDC) on campus and encourage him/her to visit our website at www.niu.edu/csdc. This would give him/her a “feel” for our staff and our services. As a philosophy, we strongly endorse voluntary counseling. Our belief is that the student should be the one who is basically in charge of his/her own counseling. In our approach to counseling, we strive for a collaborative, egalitarian relationship based on mutual trust and respect. Our staff is diverse and quite experienced in matters of anxiety and depression. These are major reasons why students seek out our services. If your brother/sister would like to get a “taste” of counseling at CSDC, he/she should come in between the hours of 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM, Monday – Friday, and have an initial visit with one of our counselors. He/she should tell the counselor of his/her previous negative experience so that the counselor can be aware that this is a concern for him/her. The counselor can then answer any questions your brother/sister may have about counseling at CSDC, and work with him/her to get counseling under way on a positive note, if this is what he/she wants. Something else that might help would be for your brother/sister to indicate that he/she would like to come in for a limited number of sessions, for example, two or three, to see if counseling feels right. At that point, he/she might be in a better position to make more of a commitment to counseling. Ultimately, proceeding with counseling is completely up to your brother/sister. We respect that right and will do nothing to make him/her feel forced or manipulated into getting services. Nor will we ever make him/her feel guilty or ashamed if he/she decides not to pursue counseling. We are here to be of service. If your brother/sister is open to seeking assistance, we stand ready to assist. Thanks again for your question. We hope to see your brother/sister soon. Sincerely,
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