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THE ROLE OF A COUNSELOR ON A BIT

Brian Van Brunt, Ed.D. Mitchell A. Levy, Ph.D., L.M.H.C. ACCCA President- Elect Executive Director- Counseling, Director of Counseling & Testing Advising, & Academic Support

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THE ROLE OF A COUNSELOR ON A BIT

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  1. Brian Van Brunt, Ed.D. Mitchell A. Levy, Ph.D., L.M.H.C. ACCCA President- Elect Executive Director- Counseling, Director of Counseling & Testing Advising, & Academic Support Western Kentucky University LaGuardia Community College brian.vanbrunt@wku.edu C.U.N.Y. (270) 745-3159 mlevy@lagcc.cuny.edu (718) 482-5169 THE ROLE OF A COUNSELOR ON A BIT NaBITA First Annual Conference 12/11/09

  2. Program Overview • This session is designed to outline the role of the mental health counselor and psychologist as a member of their college or university Behavioral Intervention Team. • We will share our experiences re: best practices and preparing for common institutional challenges. • We want to discuss some basic ideas, but really want to hear from you and what you find is most helpful in navigating a counselor’s role on a BIT.

  3. A bit about BIT’s • BIT teams are designed to improve systemic communication and address concerning behaviors: • Create Behavioral Intervention/Threat Assessment Teams to reduce the “silo” effect of information sharing between departments and increase pro-active intervention. • Deisinger suggests BIT/TAT teams should: “Identify a student, faculty member, or staff member who has engaged in threatening behaviors or done something that raised serious concern about their well-being, stability, or potential for violence or suicide.” p. 47

  4. A bit about BIT’s • Each school must assess their particular institutions culture to create the best team membership. Some suggestions include: • Legal Counsel • Athletics • Health Services • Student Activities • Academic Affairs • Dean of Students • Campus Safety • Counseling Director • Residential Life • Judicial Affairs

  5. A bit about BIT’s • NCHERM (Sokolow and Lewis) suggests Behavioral Intervention Teams: • Have an accurate understanding of aggression; • use formalized protocols of explicit engagement techniques and strategies; • utilize mandated psychological assessment; • train and educate the community on what to report and how; • focus not only on student-based risks, but on faculty and staff as well

  6. A bit about BIT’s • Referral agents should be addressing student behavior, not targeting those with mental illness. They should be focused on acts of aggression, threats, intimidation, hoarding of weapons and the frustration, anger and isolation that leads to an act of violence. • Those with mental illness are more likely to be the victims of violence, not perpetrators (Choe, Tepin & Abrams; 2008).

  7. A bit about BIT’s • Most schools have some form of counseling staff on their BIT team. • According to the 2009 Campus Safety and Security Survey, about two-thirds of respondents said that a Behavioral Assessment Team exists on their campus—ranging from 42 percent of public two-year colleges to 65 percent of independent institutions and 76 percent of public four-year colleges and universities. • Over 92% of those schools with behavioral assessment teams have a member from counseling services.

  8. Benefits • Increased expertise in mental health problems available to BIT • Connection to students who utilize counseling • Improved perspective in regards to how other departments operate • Increase in information sharing (reduce silo) with other departments • “Team player” benefit when working with other departments

  9. Challenges • Perception that counseling shares all information with others on campus • Potential violation of ethics codes with professional organizations • Increased exposure to “tricky” situations that require action by team member (e.g. like having a lawyer on the team) • Counseling staff feeling frustrated being pulled into mandated or “big brother” treatment • Reduction of students sharing or coming to counseling

  10. Addressing Institutional Challenges & Increasing Preparedness to Initiate a BIT Philosophical agreement re: being pro-active Critical Incident Reviews Support for cross-divisional training BIT team requests viewed as a priority? Is BIT team “mobile”, “flexible”, “accessible” Team approach vs. silo’s Clear chain of command or confusion? Resources for bilingual, sign language, physical accommodations (ADA) * Levy (2007); Grieger, Levy, & Wells-Johnson (1997)

  11. Range of Involvement • Counselors and psychologists (working as administrators and/or clinicians) are faced with a range of choices when it comes to choosing what their involvement should be when participating on a BIT. • As with most things in life, I find the Simpsons help provide some much needed guidance and clarity.

  12. No Involvement. There are rules. • There are rules and ethics that I have to follow, these are non-negotiable. • These rules do not allow me to be part of a BIT. • If I attending a meeting, I would violate my ethical code and perhaps be in trouble with the licensing board.

  13. I go, but I don’t talk or do anything. • I can attend a BIT, but I can’t say anything about any students I work with---that is unethical. • I’ll come to the meetings, but I’m just there to sit and listen. I can’t do anything without my client’s permission.

  14. I try to be helpful, within reason. • I will attend the BIT and can share information if needed. • We have our student sign an informed consent that gives some permission for us to talk about them at a BIT if there is an emergency. • I can talk to my clients or non-clients to try to get them connected to counseling.

  15. I’ll do anything, forget my ethics. • I will attend the BIT and can share anything you need. • I don’t see confidentiality as an issues since we all work at the same school. • I can call faculty and tell them or talk to a students parents without any permission.

  16. Our team is a little on the larger size. We have DOS, judicial affairs, Gym coordinator, academic support, counseling, health, police, diversity affairs, south campus, student activities and residential life. • We meet weekly, judicial affairs keeps a centralized list for records---but each department keeps their own notes • I share “we know them and are working with them” or more details if there is a hospitalization or suicide threat. We use an informed consent to give permission to share information with the team.

  17. Beginning to develop team- discussed core membership (Public Safety, Counseling, VP of Student Development, Judiciary Officer, Ombuds Officer, Faculty Representative) plus “back-ups” • Meet 2x/month; records kept by chair or designee • Counseling shares only with written authorization or if a “Duty to Warn” has been determined.

  18. Case Study One #1 • “I am the only counselor at a small school and I sit in on our campus BIT. They brought up one of the students I see as a client because of some suicidal statements the student made to a professor. • I already new about the situation and I am working with the student on these issues. I don’t believe him to be an active risk as this time and I think a BIT intervention would actually end up making the situation worse. • I don’t want to violate the students confidentiality. What am I supposed to do?”

  19. Case Study #2 • I attend our weekly BIT team and they know I work with a certain high-profile, at-risk student (Aspergers, some suicidal statements and stalking behavior with another student in the residence hall). • The student has missed his last few appointments with me and hasn’t responded to my emails or phone messages to reschedule. The BIT assumes the student is following through with counseling, but he isn’t. Do I need to report this back to the team?

  20. Case Study #3 • I’ve noticed my involvement on the BIT team has improved some communications with different departments on campus. Lately, however, my DOS has been asking more and more detailed questions about my clients. • Last week he demanded access to my outlook schedule to be able to see “who was coming in to see me and who wasn’t”. This situation just doesn’t seem right. How should I approach it?

  21. Case Study #4 • I sit quietly in the BIT team and share no information. That’s the most I’m willing to do based on how I interpret my professional ethics. • The team recently discussed a case of a para-suicidal female student who engages in cutting behavior and has had two alcohol violations. The DOS and team feel like she needs to be in counseling. The team agrees to mandate her to counseling for the rest of the semester. • I am not ok with this. What is my next step?

  22. References • Campus Safety and Security Survey. Released 8/2009. Retrieved on 9/12/09 from www.nacubo.org/Documents/Initiatives/CSSPSurveyResults.pdf • Choe, JY., Teplin, LA & Abram, KM. (2008). Perpetration of violence, violent victimization, and severe mental illness: balancing public health concerns. Psychiatric Services, 59(2), 153-164. • Deisinger, G., Randazzo, M., O’Neil, D., Savage, J. (2008). The handbook for campus threat assessment & management teams. Boston, MA: Applied Risk Management. • Grieger, I., Levy, M.A., & Johnson, J. (1997). A systemic model for managing college depression and suicide. ACA World Conference, Orlando, FL. • Levy, M.A. (2007). Assessing institutional preparedness for managing campus tragedies. 6th Annual Atlantic Regional Conference, Sussex County Community College, Newton, NJ, October, 2007.

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