August 2020 News
Procedures: Office of Mental Health and Support Services 2020
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
From the Office of Mental Health and Support Services
The Office of Mental Health and Support Services (OMHSS) strives to provide students with the support and resources in order to help them achieve their personal and academic goals while at the Indiana Academy. Counseling services are provided by Dr. Mindy Wallpe and graduate students form the School and Counseling Doctoral programs at BSU. They include Steven Scally, M.A., Tauralee Tenn, M.A., Emily Boswell Strain, M.A., LMHCA, Kalyn Gebhardt, M.A., and Lizi Zhong, M.Ed., M.A. and are under the direct supervision of Dr. Wallpe.
We encourage you to reach out to our office for support regarding any mental health difficulty, stressor, and/or life challenge. We want to be both a support and resource to you during your time at the Indiana Academy. We are available Monday-Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Given the guidelines in place from Ball State University and the Indiana Academy regarding COVID-19, counseling sessions will be done via teletherapy (online through WebEx) and not face to face. If you want to schedule an appointment with a counselor, please email Dr. Mindy at mcwallpe or call 765-285-5483.
What to expect once scheduled:
Once you are assigned a counselor you will be sent an email that has your counselors contact information, the date, time, and location for the appointment. You will be given an office room number in Elliott Hall basement and let into that office for privacy for your session. A link for your private teletherapy counseling appointment will be included.
Guidelines for session:
You will need to bring your laptop/tablet/phone and headphones/earbuds for your session. You will log on to the session in the privacy of the office and the counselor will return to their office and log on to begin the session.
Your video must remain on and showing your face during your session. Make sure you have the power cord for your phone/computer/tablet. At the end of the session the therapist will schedule you for your next session and send an email with the link that will be needed. The therapist will return to the office and sanitize the space.
For unscheduled appointments:
We are limiting in person contact, so if you need to talk to a counselor but do not have an appointment and you are not having thoughts of suicide, harming self, or others, please call Dr. Mindy at 765-285-5483 to address your current need over the phone.
If you are having thoughts of suicide, harming self, or others and unable to talk on the phone because of current distress, please walk down to Dr. Mindy’s office immediately and knock on the office door (WA160C located in guidance suite).
To utilize services in the OMHSS the consent to treatment must be on file. This includes the OMHSS Informed Consent 2020 and the Telehealth Indiana Academy Informed Consent 2020 forms. The forms were included in your registration materials. The form is attached if it has not been completed.
If you have been in counseling and are interested in utilizing services at the Academy please work with your current provider and sign a release of information so we can coordinate care.
If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask.