For Parents

Many students come to the Counseling Service when they are faced with general adjustment issues, perhaps marked by anxiety, depression, or homesickness. These are normative, often transitory states.  Starting or returning to college either from home or abroad, brings with it a host of academic, athletic, interpersonal, and often cultural challenges.  The Counseling Service is available to support students through this time of transition and to help introduce them to both student led and college organized programs on campus that might be of support.

Developmental Tasks

Normative psychosocial development for college age students involves the growth of a coherent sense of self that can both work through challenges independently and develop trusting, non-exploitive relationships outside of the immediate family.  The Counseling Service offers a space where students can work to develop their personal values, a sense of self-love, and the ability both to make choices and found relationships on a deepened knowledge of self.  It can be difficult as a parent to watch your child struggle between depending on you and standing on their own.  Invariably, family dynamics will change and everyone will have the opportunity to refine or even redefine their relationships within the family.

Clinical Concerns

Parents are understandably concerned when they notice more dramatic changes in their child's demeanor or performance either academically, emotionally, or socially.  The Counseling Service sees many students with more pronounced difficulties in the areas of social phobia, relationship problems, academic problems, and alcohol and substance abuse.  In addition, we counsel students struggling with more serious problems such as clinical depression, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and experienced trauma.  We offer a strictly confidential service so that students will feel free to come to us with a wide range of concerns. We do not make any information available to anyone else, at the College or elsewhere, without a signed release from the student. Even the fact that a student is being seen in the Counseling Service is not conveyed to deans, faculty members, or others without the student's written consent. 

Q & A

Whatever concerns you have for your child, we encourage you, first and foremost, to approach your child directly.  The following Q & A is offered to help you to navigate our services and to support you in discussing with your child how to get the support they might need.  

What services are offered at the Counseling Service?

Is there a cost for the service?

Who are the clinicians at the Counseling Service?

How are appointments made?

What is your policy regarding confidentiality?

How will I know if my child is receiving counseling services?

What if I want to share information with the Counseling Service that I believe would be helpful in treating my child?

If my child is taking medication at home, either for a learning disorder or psychological diagnosis, what happens when they are on campus?

If my child is receiving counseling at home and would like to continue therapy while at Bowdoin, what should we do?

Recommended Reading for Parents

You're On Your Own (But I'm Here if You Need Me): Mentoring your Child during the College Years by Mary Savage

Letting Go: A Parents' Guide to Understanding the College Years by Karen Levin Coburn

The Launching Years: Strategies for Parenting from Senior Year to College Life by Laura Kastner

When Your Kid Goes to College: A Parent's Survival Guide by Carol Barkin

When Kids Go to College: A Parents Guide to Changing Relationships by Barbara Newman and Philip Newman

Some Thoughts for Parents by Robert Villas PhD

Contact Us

If you have any additional questions about the Counseling Service and/or other sources of support for your child both on and off campus, please look through the rest of this website and/or feel free to call us at 207-725-3145.  While we can not discuss specific individuals without consent, the staff is available to answer your general questions and to talk about your concerns.