University Counseling Services

DePaul University Counseling Services (UCS) is committed to providing culturally sensitive services to the campus community and developing the multicultural capacities of its staff. Given the diversity of our student population, help-seekers come to Counseling Services with varied experiences specific to their racial and ethnic membership, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, social class, immigration status, size, religious affiliation, nationality, and/or disability status. We also remain mindful of the intersecting nature of social identities. Consistent with our Vincentian mission and values, we recognize and affirm the dignity of all persons and strive to create a community where all can flourish. As such, we strive to offer services and programs that are inclusive, and give voice to these varied experiences, by providing a space to be heard, appreciated, and accepted.

We celebrate the rich diversity that exists in our campus community. As a community, our lives are interconnected, and we benefit when we encourage awareness, respect, acceptance, understanding, and an appreciation of our differences and similarities. By fostering these processes, our hope is that students, faculty, staff and others in our community will broaden their scope of awareness, develop empathy for different perspectives and life experiences, challenge stereotypes and biases, and serve as models for civility and social justice.

The Counseling Services staff has extensive experience with providing support services to individuals of varying social identities and backgrounds. We know that only through an awareness of ourselves as cultural beings can we hope to understand and help others. Therefore, to enhance our knowledge, and skills, we routinely engage in continuing education programs, trainings, and workshops. Our commitment to diversity is an ongoing and open-ended journey; as such, we frequently seek opportunities to challenge our own privileges and biases. Furthermore, clinical training in diversity and multiculturalism provided to our doctoral level Externs is integral to the mission of DePaul University Counseling Services.

"Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization."
- Mahatma Gandhi

In this moment of tremendous horror and pain in our city and our nation following the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor and the countless other deaths of black lives that have occurred in this unjust and inequitable system, DePaul University Counseling Services staff condemns systemic intolerance and injustice. We strongly oppose discrimination, hate and intolerance and stand in solidarity with our Black students, faculty and staff. 

We recognize the relentless impact that prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination have on mental health and well-being. Our staff feels and understands the many reactions that can come from these events, such as fear, anger and grief. We are here to join you in processing how systems of oppression and traumatic events impact your feelings, beliefs and identities, and we can also help you connect to resources that feel safe and that resonate with you.  Please know we are available to students within drop in virtual consultations, regular individual meetings and general support for the remainder of the quarter, through the summer and beyond.   

We will continue to confront the traumatic and unjust impact of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination by joining with students and with other offices on campus to collaborate on conversations about race and support. We also anticipate providing more written materials online to support students who are coping with race-related stress, anger and grief. (adapted from UIC and UNC counseling centers).

Here are some resources that you can access today:

#Racial Trauma is Real

Racism Recovery Plan Steps

Radical Self-Care in the Face of Mounting Racial Stress

10 Steps to Non-Optical Allyship

Black Emotional & Mental Health (BEAM)

#BlackLivesMatter, sign petition, donate, call and email to demand justice

University Counseling Services stands against anti-Asian Racism. We reject xenophobia and nativism. Our staff stands with those who have been harmed by all forms of anti-Asian incidents. Violence and harassment of individuals of Asian descent following the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally rejects DePaul’s Vincentian values of integrity, respect and compassion to all marginalized groups. We call upon ourselves within the counseling center to fight injustice, to challenge and grow within and urge all members of the DePaul community to continue to uphold our institutional values of diversity, inclusion and equity. 

For additional resources to join the fight and seek support see below:

Disarming Racism from A Psychological Perspective (video)

Hollaback! Bystander Intervention Training to Stop Anti-Asian/American and Xenophobic Harassment

Surviving Racism Amidst Covid-19

Rise Justice Labs

Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago