Yes, that sounds good, but how do you make this a reality? You thought college life would be the best time of your life. That’s what everyone has told you. Yeah, it’s fun to be independent and to be away from the family, but it’s not at all what you expected. In fact, it feels downright lonely at times. The rat race for grades at a competitive school like Northwestern, fitting in, wanting to just be yourself, but feeling that is not enough, is too much stress. What can you do? Maybe counseling services for college students might be for you.
Here at Evanston Therapy, you don’t have anything to prove. We know first impressions are important, and we understand how scary it is to reach out for help, whether you have had therapy before or not. The good news is, with a little help, life can feel so much better, and we know how to work with college students to help you get there. It’s our specialty.
In our peaceful office, which is 2 blocks from Northwestern campus, you can get the help you need to change your life at school. Private, specialized care to reduce the anxiety of college life. And we work hard to make it convenient to fit in with your busy schedule. You can also meet with our therapists for online therapy.
Your life at school is filled with so many “what-ifs.” What if I fail that calculus class? Does the grad program I want to get into want me? What if my boyfriend finds out what I’m really like? What if I don’t get into a fraternity or sorority? Am I happy with my friends and relationships? Who will I live with next year?
The worry is almost constant. You can’t relax and enjoy life now that you are finally away from home. The anxiety is just too great.
Your days are filled with imagining all the scenarios and working out solutions for each one. It’s exhausting. You have no energy left to have fun or focus on your schoolwork.
Don’t panic, we can help you learn to relax and enjoy your college experience. Our therapists for college students will help you see how to walk out of social isolation and into thriving relationships. Our clients leave our offices feeling empowered in their relationships, school work, and lives.
When you walk into a room of people, you immediately compare your body to everyone else’s. Walking past a mirror or shop window, you wince at what you see. You wish there were fewer of you or that you were shaped differently.
If people could hear the things you say to yourself about yourself, they’d be shocked. Recently, you’ve become hyperaware of what you are eating and what you are wearing. Maybe you have turned to using substances to help you cope.
Yet, what if you could learn to identify the triggers? Through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, you can learn to recognize when you are judging yourself harshly. We have caring therapists who are especially trained to help you feel better about how you look and to help you feel more in control of what you are putting in your body.
Perhaps meeting new people all the time at parties and in the dorms has you feeling a little out of it. Everyone seems so confident, but you’re not always feeling it. Who are you really now? Who can you be?
Also, getting used to being at college has had its challenges. Roommates, profs, new romantic relationships, working in groups… Plus, life seems to be flying past you. At Northwestern, one quarter barely gets started before it’s time to move on to the next. You can’t seem to catch your breath before being pushed into new classes with new students, new professors, and new responsibilities.
The pressure is relentless. The pace is at lightning speed.
How do you cope? Our therapy services can help you figure out how to slow everything down long enough to gulp some air. This new oxygen to your brain can help you to think through who you want to be and where you want to go.
You are bright and don’t mind working hard. Yet, you feel awful because your procrastination is keeping you from completing papers, required assignments, and your part of the group project.
It’s not that you are lazy, far from it. You just have trouble staying focused long enough to know where to start and how to keep the ball rolling.
At Evanston Counseling, our therapists for college students will help you identify your strengths and how to use them to lead to the success you’re after. Together, we’ll build a plan to help you manage where you might be struggling.
You feel like you’ve finally figured out how to make college life work, and it’s time for graduation. You’re worried about your next steps. What will you do? In today’s economy, will you be able to find a decent-paying job? Perhaps you’ve considered going to grad school, but you don’t know if you can take more of school right now. Up until now, everything has been laid out for you. Now there are no rules, no boundaries. The world is yours, yet you don’t know which way to go.
Work with one of our therapists to identify a plan and set goals that will motivate you.
If you have questions about therapy for college students in Evanston, IL, you are not alone. Most students come to us with a mix of curiosity, hesitation, and a lot of unknowns about what therapy actually looks like. We put together answers to what we hear most often so you can feel informed and confident before you ever reach out.
How do I know if what I’m feeling is serious enough for therapy?
A lot of college students, especially at competitive schools, have spent years pushing through hard things on their own. By the time they consider therapy, they are often wondering if what they are feeling is bad enough to justify it.
It is. If you are overthinking everything, struggling to connect with people, feeling behind no matter how hard you work, or just going through the motions without knowing why, those things are worth talking about. You do not have to be in crisis. Feeling stuck, anxious, or like you have lost the version of yourself that used to feel okay is reason enough to reach out.
Is therapy at a private practice better than my campus counseling center?
Campus counseling centers do important work, but they have limitations. Most have waiting lists, session caps, and high caseloads, which means you may wait weeks to be seen and then have a limited number of sessions before you are referred out anyway.
At Evanston Counseling, the goal is to match you with a therapist you can work with consistently, on a schedule that fits your life, for as long as you actually need. There are no session caps and no arbitrary cutoffs. For students dealing with anxiety, ADHD, relationship struggles, or anything that takes more than a few sessions to really work through, that kind of ongoing relationship makes a real difference.
It is not that one is better across the board. Private practice tends to offer more stability and depth, which is often exactly what college students need.
Does insurance cover therapy for college students?
Evanston Counseling is not contracted directly with any insurance companies. That said, clients are often surprised by how much they can get back through their out-of-network benefits.
Some university student health plans cover out-of-network mental health care quite well. Northwestern and Loyola are good examples where students have found reimbursement to be generous.
If you do want to use your benefits, we make the process as simple as possible. We partner with a company that handles out-of-network claims quickly and easily, so you do not have to figure it out on your own.
Many college students choose not to use insurance because they prefer to keep their sessions private and would rather not have a diagnosis on file, which is a completely valid choice as well.
Either way, we are happy to talk through your options when you reach out. You can also check out our guide to understanding out-of-network benefits here.
Will my parents find out I’m going to therapy?
If you are 18 or older, your therapy sessions are completely confidential. Your parents do not have access to your records, and we will not share any information about your care without your written permission. That is true even if you are on their insurance plan.
There are a small number of legal exceptions to confidentiality, such as if there is a serious concern about your safety or the safety of someone else, but those situations are rare. Your therapist will go over all of this with you in your first session, so you know exactly where things stand.
For most college students, therapy is their own private space, and that is exactly how it should be.
Is online therapy effective for college students?
Online therapy can be a great option for college students. With busy and unpredictable schedules, it’s easy to miss a session when something unexpected happens. Online therapy lets you meet your therapist from your dorm, your apartment, or anywhere you feel comfortable.
Studies show that online therapy works just as well as in-person therapy for most issues, like anxiety, stress, relationship problems, and ADHD. At Evanston Counseling, we offer both options, and many of our college student clients like meeting virtually, at least part of the time.
What matters most is finding a therapist you feel comfortable with. The way you meet is less important than that.
What should I expect in my first therapy session?
Your first therapy session at Evanston Counseling is about getting to know you. There is no pressure to have everything figured out or to tell your whole story right away. Your therapist will take time to understand what you are going through and to figure out what kind of support will help you.
We want you to leave feeling like you are in the right place, with someone who truly cares about getting to know you. We work with you actively, helping you find real solutions and tools to make a difference.
Sessions are 55 minutes, everything is private, and you will continue with the same therapist every week. You can relax knowing that you will have someone there to support you who knows you and your story.
You do not need to prepare anything. Just come as you are.
Can therapy help with academic stress and burnout?
Yes, therapy really can help with academic stress and burnout. We see a lot of college students from places like Northwestern and Loyola who are feeling the pressure to excel in classes and lead the pack. School can take a toll, not just on your grades, but on your sleep, your motivation, your appetite, and even your relationships with your friends and family. When classes get stressful, it’s easy to feel worn down or like you’re losing yourself.
But there’s hope. Therapy gives you a chance to put things on pause and sort through what’s happening. Sometimes burnout comes from having too much to do. Other times, it’s all about perfectionism, fear of letting people down, or feeling like you have to hold everything together on your own. Or, perhaps it is a mix of things.
In therapy at Evanston Counseling, you will begin to understand what is making things hard for you. As you do this, your therapist will guide you to find real, practical ways of dealing with the academic stress. The goal is to help you relax.
What we talk about depends on you. Maybe you’ll chat with your therapist about how to handle anxious thoughts, how to set some boundaries with your time, or how to stop perfectionism from getting in your way.
The goal of our therapy is to give you real-life skills you can actually use. And, everything you share here is private. Your school won’t know you’re coming, and nothing goes on your record.
What if I‘ve tried therapy before and it didn’t help?
Sometimes it takes a few tries to find the right therapist, and that is completely okay. Every therapist is different, and if it did not work before, it does not mean therapy cannot help you. It usually just means the fit was not right.
At Evanston Counseling, we try to match you with a therapist who is just right for you, personality-wise and style-wise. Do you want someone who is quiet and reflective, or someone more active and directive? Do you want someone who will help you change how you think about stress, like with CBT? Or someone who will help you accept what you cannot change and move forward? Or maybe you are looking for something more emotionally focused or relationship-oriented.
We will do our best to match you with the right person for what you are looking for right now. And if we get it wrong, just let us know. We will rematch you. It is all about fit, and at Evanston Counseling, we take that seriously.
Can therapy help with loneliness and social struggles in college?
Yes, therapy can absolutely help with loneliness and social struggles in college. We work with a lot of students who come to us wanting help with feeling disconnected and alone. We also have a lot of experience managing social anxiety and relationship challenges. Making and keeping good friends is hard work, and it can feel all-consuming when you live in a small world like a college campus.
Most of our clients don’t even realize that loneliness is more common than you would think. Almost everyone feels it at some point. There is constant pressure to be on all the time, and that is simply not realistic. A lot of students end up feeling like everyone else has more friends or stronger connections than they do. That feeling can be isolating and just awful. It’s FOMO, and it’s real.
At Evanston Counseling, we will listen to how you are feeling and help you find ways to be more connected. Your therapist will work with you on managing the anxiety that gets in the way of forming new relationships. Together, you will build the skills to have healthier conversations and deeper relationships.
You do not have to feel alone anymore.
How long does therapy for college students typically last?
The length of therapy looks different for everyone. It really depends on what you want to accomplish in counseling. Some students come in with a focused concern and start feeling better within a few months. Others find that as they work through one thing, they want to keep going and tackle something else. Some stay with us for years, others for just a few weeks. Either way, you are in the driver’s seat.
Whether you are coming in for anxiety, academic stress, relationship struggles, or just a general feeling that something is off, we will create a plan together that is most effective to meet your goals.
What we can promise is that we are committed to doing everything we can to keep things on track. In the first few sessions, we will lay out a concrete plan to address your concerns, and we will be as specific as you want us to be. As therapy progresses, your therapist at Evanston Counseling will check in continuously to make sure you are making progress. We will redirect when necessary, so things keep moving forward.
The only thing we ask of you is to be as upfront as possible with your therapist about your expectations and goals from the very beginning. That is the only way we can tailor a plan to help you with exactly what you want help with.
College can be a time of incredible growth and opportunity, but it’s also a period of unique challenges. If you’re a college student feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or struggling with your mental health, it might be time to start Therapy for College Students in Evanston, IL. Reach out to us here at Evanston Counseling, and our team of therapists for college students can help. Your college years should be a time of personal growth and self-discovery. Don’t let stress, anxiety, or other mental health concerns hold you back. Follow the steps below to help you reach your full potential.
At Evanston Counseling, we offer more than just therapy for college students in Evanston, IL. We specialize in many different techniques to help people with specific mental health issues. Our specialties include therapy for moms, therapy for teenagers, therapy for young adults, therapy for anxiety, therapy for depression, and therapy for chronic pain. We also offer many different therapeutic approaches including hypnotherapy, pet therapy, online therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you live a balanced, happier life.
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