Counseling Services

Faculty and staff referral guide

The following information is provided to assist faculty and staff with learning more about the Goodwin's Counseling Services, referral information, and how to assist students in crisis most effectively. Our goal is to help faculty and staff recognize some of the symptoms of student distress and to provide advice for intervention and referral to campus resources.

Faculty and staff play a significant role because of their ongoing contact with students and are often able to observe signs and symptoms of a student in distress before anyone else. Guidelines are offered and each individual must consider what is appropriate in a given situation. The guidelines are not hard and fast rules and personal and professional judgment should always come into play.

  • Social isolation, withdrawn, lethargy, disconnected
  • Inability to focus on a specific topic of conversation or activity
  • Disorganized thinking/speech, feelings that are inappropriate to a situation, lack of affect or other evidence that a student is “out of touch with reality”
  • Expression of feelings of persecution and strong mistrust of others
  • Violent outbursts
  • Signs of excessive alcohol or drug use
  • Significant and marked changes in mood or behavior
  • You find yourself giving ongoing counseling rather than consultation and advising and are pulled in directions with which you are uncomfortable
  • Behavior reflects increased hopelessness or helplessness
  • Marked decline in quality of course work, class participation and quality of papers and test results
  • Increased absence from class or failure to turn in course work
  • Prolonged depression, suggested by a sad expression, apathy, weight loss, sleep difficulties or tearfulness
  • Nervousness, agitation, excessive worry, irritability, aggressiveness or non-stop talking
  • Bizarre or strange behavior, speech, writing or thinking
  • Extreme dependency on faculty or staff, including spending much of his or her spare time visiting during office hours or at other times
  • Marked change in personal hygiene
  • Talk of suicide, either directly or indirectly, such as “I won’t be around to take that exam anyway” or “I’m not worried about not getting a job because I won’t need one”

When in doubt about making a referral, please contact Goodwin University Counseling Services.

To make an appointment, contact

Lisa Mooney, LMFT
Counseling Center Director
  • Phone860-913-2159
  • Email
Bobbie Chakraborty, LMFTA, MS
Counseling Case Manager
  • Phone860-913-2089
  • Email
Mari Sullivan, LCSW
Counselor
  • Phone860-727-6925
  • Email