At the Student Health Center, we understand that college students are making important decisions about their use of alcohol, and students see the Alcohol and Drug Counselor for a variety of reasons:
- Desire for assistance in moderating their use of alcohol
- Concern about friends’ or family members’ use of alcohol or other drugs
- Referral from the Student Health Center or other medical or mental health providers
- Assistance in finding recovery resources and maintaining abstinence in the campus atmosphere
- Referral from Student Conduct or other Vanderbilt staff when there is concern about a student’s alcohol or drug use or when there has been a violation of the Vanderbilt Alcohol Policy as described in the Student Handbook (www.vanderbilt.edu/student_handbook/chapter6.html),
- Family request
- Court mandates for assessment, counseling, or other services
Services
As with all other medical services, alcohol and drug issues are kept completely confidential. Services provided include:
- Comprehensive assessment
- Recommendation and referral to other agencies as indicated
- Education about specific issues emerging from the assessment
- Structure and support for those trying to reduce their alcohol consumption
- Addressing impact of alcohol and drug use on other physical or mental health diagnoses
- Short-term individual or group therapy
- Recovering@vanderbilt.edu, a confidential e-mail resource for connecting with recovery resources on campus and in the Nashville area
- Collaboration with other Vanderbilt staff concerned about making this campus safe for all students, whatever their choices about use of alcohol, including
- Office of Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Drug Prevention Programs (www.vanderbilt.edu/alcohol/students.html)
- Psychological and Counseling Center (www.vanderbilt.edu/pcc)
- Vanderbilt Recovery Support Community, a mutual support and accountability program for students in recovery from addiction to alcohol or other drugs. Further information available through recovering@vanderbilt.edu.
Links to other resources
- www.AlcoholScreening.org and www.DrugScreening.org Services of www.JoinTogether.org , a project of the Boston University School of Public Health
- www.CollegeDrinkingPrevention.gov, a resource for comprehensive research-based information on issues related to alcohol abuse and binge drinking among college students
- www.moderation.org, www.aim-digest.com (Alcohol In Moderation) and www.DrinkingAndYou.com, providing information on moderate drinking practices
- www.CollegeRecovery.org, a supportive network for students in recovery
- www.BeerBoozeBooks.com, a resource for parents, students, faculty and administrators about alcohol issues on college campuses
- www.AANashville.org, www.NANashville.org, and www.middletnalanon.org , providing local meeting schedules for Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Al-Anon (an organization for people whose lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking)
- www.vanderbilt.edu/alcohol/students.html, the campus Office of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Prevention with links to other sites of interest
- www.vanderbilt.edu/student_handbook/chapter6.html, policy on Alcohol and Controlled Substances
- www.vanderbilt.edu/studentorganizations/handbook.pdf, alcohol policy for campus organizations
