Learning to Wear Different Hats: Counselors and Psychologists as BIT Leaders and Contributors

1. Learning to Wear Different Hats: Counselors and Psychologists as BIT Leaders and Contributors Josh E. Gunn, PhD Bob Mattox, EdD Kennesaw State University

2. BIT Evolution • Students of Concern (SOC)/ Care Teams have been around for a long time • Mass shootings caused many universities to either add risk assessment to the SOC team role or started a separate Risk/Threat Assessment Team

3. BIT Team Makeup • Student Conduct • Campus Police • Counselors/Psychologists • Dean of Students • Health Services • Academic Affairs • Student Activities • Legal Counsel • Human Resources • Residence Life • Media Relations

4. Counselors as BIT Members • Approximately 4,500 colleges and universities have some form of BIT • Conservatively then there are thousands of counselors across the country trying to determine how to operate as BIT members with no guidance from their professional literature

5. What is the role of counselors on a BIT? • No involvement • I go, but don’t talk or do anything • I try to be helpful, within reason • I’ll do anything, forget my ethics Van Brunt & Levy (2009)

6. Counselors shouldn’t participate in BITs • Rationale: The role of a counselor and the code of ethics prohibits any level of participation • Confidentiality • Dual Relationships • Conflicts of Interest • Response: Roles are expanding and changing Sound ethical decision making practices can reduce the likelihood of ethical dilemmas (no form of practice is without the potential for ethical dilemmas)

7. Counselors should only observe at BIT meetings • Rationale: Talking about my clients in meetings would be unethical • Response: Reported students are unlikely to be on your case load Students who are clients can often be brought into the BIT process and can consent to appropriate disclosure

8. Counselors should be able to offer something to the team • Rationale: Counselors can offer consultation around the meaning of behaviors, risk/protective factors, and what might be needed to alleviate the distress and/or risk of harm • Response: Counselors can offer a wealth of information about most of the issues that are brought to the team When clients are reported, there are ways of serving the needs of both client and BIT

9. Counselors should be able to share any information the BIT may need • Rationale: Safety is the top priority, and the highest ethical principles call us to do good and do no harm • Response: While safety is the top priority and information needed to keep students safe should be shared, it is essential to maintain the sanctity of counseling and confidentiality so that it is available for those who need and seek it

10. Best Practices of Counselors on BITs • Recognize your role • Counselors are the human behavior experts on campus • Our duties are to both our clients and the university • Refusing to work outside of the counseling office is going to hurt the way you are perceived on campus • You can be both a campus administrator who acts in service of the BIT and a counselor • Being a BIT member lets you engage in prevention, education, and remediation

11. Best Practices of Counselors on BITs • Clarify your role • Be clear with your team about how you see your role early and often • Clarify your role anytime you are working with a student who has been brought before the BIT • Use a different informed consent form that informs students of the limits of confidentiality for students mandated to counseling by the BIT or Student Conduct

12. Best Practices of Counselors on BITs • Be ethical, but don’t hide behind ethics (or anything else for that matter) to avoid participation in the BIT process • Know the ethics code well and consult with others often • Ethical guidelines for clinical practice do not necessarily apply to administrative work (e.g., if working with a non-client student, there is no confidentiality and FERPA is the governing statute)

13. Best Practices of Counselors on BITs • Use Releases Often • When the purpose is properly explained, few students seem to have a problem with signing a limited release so basic information can be shared to alleviate the concern of the BIT

14. Best Practices of Counselors on BITs • Think of BIT work as some of the most proactive prevention work that has ever been done on college campuses • We can no longer assume that students in crisis will come to the counseling center • There is good data to suggest that those who need the counseling center most aren’t utilizing it (e.g., most campus suicides occur by students who have never been to the counseling center)

15. BIT Leadership • Campus Police • Student Conduct • Counselors/Psychologists • Dean of Students • BIT specific role • Student Conduct or Dean of Students seems to be most common

16. BIT Makeup and Leadership • Determining Factors: • University organization • Individual skill sets • Pragmatic issues seem to be considered more often than performance issues • Who has the time to do the job?

17. Can a Counselor Serve as a Team Leader? • Does the counselor/psychologist have the appropriate skill set? • Does the counselor/psychologist have enough authority on campus? • Is there the potential for role confusion? • Counselor/Psychologist • Students • Faculty/Staff • What about problems related to client confidentiality?

18. BIT Leader Skill Set • Administration • Interpersonal relations • Decision making • Judgment • Short- and long-term consequences • Balancing individual and organizational needs

19. BIT Leader Skill Set • Human Behavior • Recognizing signs of distress • Considering the context of behavior • Understanding aberrant and aggressive behavior • Assessing potential for risk

20. BIT Leader Skill Set • Methods of Support and Risk Reduction • What resource would be most appropriate for a given problem? • How likely is it that the support will alleviate the problem and/or reduce the risk?

21. Counselor/Psychologist Skill Set • Sophisticated Interpersonal Skills • Quickly develop sense of trust • Facility with gathering lots of personal information • Persuading students of a course of action

22. Counselor/Psychologist Skill Set • Crisis Management Skills • Comfort in high stress, high stakes situations • De-escalation techniques

23. Counselor/Psychologist Skill Set • Scientifically based understanding of human behavior • Signs of distress • Precipitants/correlates of violence • Indicators of deception • Prognosis with appropriate treatment

24. The Issue of Authority • If a counselor is the team chair, s/he needs to be given the authority or direct access to those who have the authority • Its best if the chair is the person with the most authority on the team, but this is not essential

25. Role Confusion: Students • Won’t the students get confused about the role of campus counselors if they are heavily involved with the BIT? • The mission of the counseling center and BIT are ultimately the same: • Support Students • Keep Everyone Safe

26. Role Confusion: Counselors/Psychologists • Being on a BIT feels different from the traditional counselor role (e.g., They come to me for help) • Graduate programs do not offer preparation on how to participate on a BIT (or any other administrative role for that matter) • A search of the literature produced no articles on behavioral intervention teams, despite that fact that they are so prevalent and most have a counselor/psychologist as a member

27. Role Confusion: Faculty/Staff • Faculty/staff often have hesitations about the BIT, including negative impressions of what they do • These negative impressions can then bleed onto the counseling center and reduce referrals and other forms of cooperation and collaboration

28. Confidentiality and other Counselor Concerns • At all times abide by the principle of confidentiality and adhere to the legal limits in your state • Trust students enough to tell them that the BIT is worried about them and it would probably be in their best interest to allow you to simply say that you are working with them • Be open to the variety of ways that you can intervene in student’s lives outside of therapy • Realize that learning to wear different hats can take a little time

29. Comments/Questions Josh Gunn, PhD Director of Behavioral Response Programs Assistant Director of Counseling & Psychological Services jgunn6@kennesaw.edu Bob Mattox, EdD Assistant Dean of Student Success Services bmattox@kennesaw.edu