Counseling Center Clinicians Experience Providing Assessments of Risk to Self vs Risk to Others

Authors

• Jeffrey W. Pollard, George Mason UniversityFollow
• David J. Disabato, George Mason UniversityFollow
• Paul D. Polychronis, Central Missouri State UniversityFollow
• Mario J. Scalora, University of Nebraska--LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

David J. Disabato http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7094-4996 Mario J. Scalora http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9988-2052

Date of this Version

2-13-2019

Citation

Published as: Jeffrey W. Pollard, David J. Disabato, Paul D. Polychronis & Mario J. Scalora (2020) Counseling Center Clinicians Experience Providing Assessments of Risk to Self versus Risk to Others, Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 34:2, 125-137.

DOI: 10.1080/87568225.2019.1574215

Comments

Copyright © 2019 Taylor & Francis. Used by permission.

Abstract

As part of collecting information for the purpose of threat assessment and management regarding a person of concern within an institution of higher education, a threat assessment and management team or another institutional official may request that a campus counseling center conduct a risk assessment of dangerousness-to-others. This study measured counseling center clinicians’ training and experience in conducting risk assessments of dangerousness-to-others. Survey data from mental health providers practicing in counseling centers within institutions of higher education revealed that these practitioners had significantly less training and experience in assessing dangerousness-to-others as compared to the training and experience they have in assessing dangerousness-to-self. This lack of training and experience brings into question the appropriateness of counseling center mental health providers conducting these assessments.