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By
Leigh Ann Carver

Our unique setting and expertise make the Women’s Center an especially good fit for many students seeking to improve their well-being. Our approach focuses on helping students identify the issues they want to address in their own lives. Our counselors are known for their extensive experience supporting college students with concerns ranging from the stresses of young adulthood to traumatic events in their lives or within their families or communities. 

Some clients come in seeking to sustain or continue work they've been doing to improve their mental wellness before college. Others may be a bit surprised to find themselves coming to counseling or even come from cultures in which mental health is an entirely taboo topic. Either way, when they reflect later on what the services they received here have meant to them, it's clear that the experience has been an empowering one that has set them up for future as well as current success in school and in life:

 

“She helped me reflect on all of the changes and progress I’ve made when I couldn’t see it myself.  She helped me/gave me the tools to reclaim myself after I was certain I had lost it for good.”

 

“I found the counseling care I received at the Women’s Center to be monumentally life-changing.”

 

“She helped me connect strategies for handling one situation with other challenging situations; and distill down a situation to one word as a reminder of the growth I’ve had.”

 

“Thank you so much. I am eternally grateful for the help in the work I’ve done.”

 

“As someone who comes from a working class, first generation college student background, …free counseling has made this self-growth and success possible for me.”

 

“She is very understanding although I am from a very different culture.”     

             

“Without the Women’s Center, I don’t know how I would have managed to graduate from UVA as the support, resources and counseling so much contributed to my student life. Thank you.”

 

“One of the best counselors I’ve had. I will miss working with her.”

 

“She acknowledged my request to not be pitied or babied, and she kept the intensity of the sessions at manageable but useful levels.”

 

“I feel fortunate that I ended up here.”  

 

“She was very non-judgmental and helped me come to conclusions on my own without outwardly pointing them out. I am so grateful for the counseling I received here. We are very lucky to have this Center at UVA.”

 

“To see real change in my life motivates me and I know I could not have had this same life-changing experience with another counselor. I have so much gratitude.”

 

Clients can continue to see their counselor here over a period of time to meet their goals. We understand that there are many reasons that students stay in Charlottesville year-round (like jobs, rent, or research opportunities). We offer counseling sessions throughout the summer months ensuring that our clients’ access to this essential service is not interrupted. Students can also continue with counseling here during a gap in enrollment if they need time off from their studies to focus on healing from trauma.

Students often comment on the welcoming, homey feeling of the Women’s Center. We have developed a range of offerings that meet identified needs among students as well as ensuring that the center is widely known across Grounds as a comfortable, accessible place. These include group workshops, seasonal online tips, office hours with our therapy dog, Poe, snacks, and our Room to Breathe, quiet study spaces and Jill T Rinehart Library. For some students, these options focused on how wellness contributes to academic success are just what they need. For others, these options encourage them to ultimately seek the individual counseling they need to thrive.

To learn more: