If you are experiencing an emergency, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Sterling College offers counseling services free to any of our students. The purpose of providing these services is to improve their academic performance and emotional, social, and spiritual well-being. Research indicates that students who struggle socially or emotionally are more likely to either drop out of school or transfer. We aim to reach out to those students, so that their college experience can be more enjoyable and successful.

Clinical counseling services are provided by David Miller and Danika Drake. David has a BA in Business Communications from Point Loma Nazarene University, MA in Higher Education from John Brown University, MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Fort Hays State University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC #04593).

Danika has an MS degree in Family Therapy from Friends University, and she is a Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist. Our office hours are Monday – Friday, 8AM – 5PM. If you would like to talk to a counselor, please call us at 620-278-2173 or email us at counseling@sterling.edu. Otherwise, appointments can be made in advance by contacting the Counseling Staff or Student Life. All appointments take place in the counseling offices located in Kelsey Hall.

Visit CDC's webpage for more information about Mental Health and COVID-19.

Office Hours/Location

Walk-in Hours are available Monday and Friday 12-1 pm. Otherwise, appointments must be made in advance by contacting the counseling staff or student life. All appointments take place in the counseling offices located in Kelsey Hall.

Eligibility and Cost

On campus counseling is available at no cost to enrolled traditional undergraduate and graduate students. Spouses of currently enrolled students may attend marriage counseling with their partner, but are ineligible for individual sessions.

To make an appointment:

Confidentiality

Students sometimes feel hesitant to seek counseling services out of concern that parents, teachers, or administrators might have access to their interaction with a counselor; this is not the case.

  • All records are confidential and they are NOT part of your academic or administrative records.
  • Your records and personal history are available to no one, this includes parents, family, police, faculty, or administration unless you provide written consent. No information about your counseling will be released to anyone without your authorization, except under the following circumstances:
    • If you are under 18 years of age, your parents or legal guardian(s) may request access to your records and may authorize their release to other parties.
    • If you are determined to be in imminent danger of harming yourself or someone else.
    • If you disclose abuse or neglect of children, the elderly, or disabled persons.
    • Where otherwise legally required.

Services include:

  • Mental Health Assessment
  • Crisis Evaluation and Intervention
  • Individual Counseling
  • Referral Services

These services are confidential in nature. All records are confidential and separate from any other record on campus. The content of all sessions is confidential with these limitations: if there is an immediate or imminent threat of personal harm to self or another person, if there is a report of ongoing abuse to a minor, or if the student is under 18.
Issues that can be addressed may include but are not limited to...

  • Anxiety
  • Depression/ Suicide
  • Alcohol/Drug Issues
  • Stress
  • Trauma
  • Anger Management
  • Eating Disorders
  • Relational Issues
  • Family Problems
  • Grief
  • Identity issues
  • School Problems
  • Sexual Abuse or Domestic Violence

If you need immediate help after office hours and cannot reach the RD or RD on call at 620-278-6218, please call 1-800-875-2544, the Crisis Intervention Hotline for Rice County, KS. 

Let's Talk