Josh E. Gunn, PhD Bob Mattox, EdD Kennesaw State University

 Students of Concern (SOC)/ Care Teams have been around for a long time  Mass shootings caused many universities to either add risk assessment to the SOC team role or started a separate Risk/Threat Assessment Team

 Student Conduct  Campus Police  Counselors/Psychologists  Dean of Students  Health Services  Academic Affairs  Student Activities  Legal Counsel  Human Resources  Residence Life  Media Relations

 Approximately 4,500 colleges and universities have some form of BIT ◦ Conservatively then there are thousands of counselors across the country trying to determine how to operate as BIT members with no guidance from their professional literature

 No involvement  I go, but don’t talk or do anything  I try to be helpful, within reason  I’ll do anything, forget my ethics Van Brunt & Levy (2009)

 Rationale: The role of a counselor and the code of ethics prohibits any level of participation ◦ Confidentiality ◦ Dual Relationships ◦ Conflicts of Interest  Response: Roles are expanding and changing Sound ethical decision making practices can reduce the likelihood of ethical dilemmas (no form of practice is without the potential for ethical dilemmas)

 Rationale: Talking about my clients in meetings would be unethical  Response: Reported students are unlikely to be on your case load Students who are clients can often be brought into the BIT process and can consent to appropriate disclosure

 Rationale: Counselors can offer consultation around the meaning of behaviors, risk/protective factors, and what might be needed to alleviate the distress and/or risk of harm  Response: Counselors can offer a wealth of information about most of the issues that are brought to the team When clients are reported, there are ways of serving the needs of both client and BIT

 Rationale: Safety is the top priority, and the highest ethical principles call us to do good and do no harm  Response: While safety is the top priority and information needed to keep students safe should be shared, it is essential to maintain the sanctity of counseling and confidentiality so that it is available for those who need and seek it

 Recognize your role ◦ Counselors are the human behavior experts on campus ◦ Our duties are to both our clients and the university ◦ Refusing to work outside of the counseling office is going to hurt the way you are perceived on campus ◦ You can be both a campus administrator who acts in service of the BIT and a counselor ◦ Being a BIT member lets you engage in prevention, education, and remediation

 Clarify your role ◦ Be clear with your team about how you see your role early and often ◦ Clarify your role anytime you are working with a student who has been brought before the BIT ◦ Use a different informed consent form that informs students of the limits of confidentiality for students mandated to counseling by the BIT or Student Conduct

 Be ethical, but don’t hide behind ethics (or anything else for that matter) to avoid participation in the BIT process ◦ Know the ethics code well and consult with others often ◦ Ethical guidelines for clinical practice do not necessarily apply to administrative work (e.g., if working with a non-client student, there is no confidentiality and FERPA is the governing statute)

 Use Releases Often ◦ When the purpose is properly explained, few students seem to have a problem with signing a limited release so basic information can be shared to alleviate the concern of the BIT

 Think of BIT work as some of the most proactive prevention work that has ever been done on college campuses ◦ We can no longer assume that students in crisis will come to the counseling center ◦ There is good data to suggest that those who need the counseling center most aren’t utilizing it (e.g., most campus suicides occur by students who have never been to the counseling center)

 Campus Police  Student Conduct  Counselors/Psychologists  Dean of Students  BIT specific role  Student Conduct or Dean of Students seems to be most common

 Determining Factors: ◦ University organization ◦ Individual skill sets  Pragmatic issues seem to be considered more often than performance issues ◦ Who has the time to do the job?

 Does the counselor/psychologist have the appropriate skill set?  Does the counselor/psychologist have enough authority on campus?  Is there the potential for role confusion? ◦ Counselor/Psychologist ◦ Students ◦ Faculty/Staff  What about problems related to client confidentiality?

 Administration ◦ Interpersonal relations ◦ Decision making ◦ Judgment ◦ Short- and long-term consequences ◦ Balancing individual and organizational needs

 Human Behavior ◦ Recognizing signs of distress ◦ Considering the context of behavior ◦ Understanding aberrant and aggressive behavior ◦ Assessing potential for risk

 Methods of Support and Risk Reduction ◦ What resource would be most appropriate for a given problem? ◦ How likely is it that the support will alleviate the problem and/or reduce the risk?

 Sophisticated Interpersonal Skills ◦ Quickly develop sense of trust ◦ Facility with gathering lots of personal information ◦ Persuading students of a course of action

 Crisis Management Skills ◦ Comfort in high stress, high stakes situations ◦ De-escalation techniques

 Scientifically based understanding of human behavior ◦ Signs of distress ◦ Precipitants/correlates of violence ◦ Indicators of deception ◦ Prognosis with appropriate treatment

 If a counselor is the team chair, s/he needs to be given the authority or direct access to those who have the authority  Its best if the chair is the person with the most authority on the team, but this is not essential

 Won’t the students get confused about the role of campus counselors if they are heavily involved with the BIT?  The mission of the counseling center and BIT are ultimately the same: 1.Support Students 2.Keep Everyone Safe

 Being on a BIT feels different from the traditional counselor role (e.g., They come to me for help)  Graduate programs do not offer preparation on how to participate on a BIT (or any other administrative role for that matter)  A search of the literature produced no articles on behavioral intervention teams, despite that fact that they are so prevalent and most have a counselor/psychologist as a member

 Faculty/staff often have hesitations about the BIT, including negative impressions of what they do  These negative impressions can then bleed onto the counseling center and reduce referrals and other forms of cooperation and collaboration

 At all times abide by the principle of confidentiality and adhere to the legal limits in your state  Trust students enough to tell them that the BIT is worried about them and it would probably be in their best interest to allow you to simply say that you are working with them  Be open to the variety of ways that you can intervene in student’s lives outside of therapy  Realize that learning to wear different hats can take a little time

Josh Gunn, PhD Director of Behavioral Response Programs Assistant Director of Counseling & Psychological Services Bob Mattox, EdD Assistant Dean of Student Success Services