How to Help

How to provide assistance to a mildly/moderately troubled student

For these behaviors or problems you can choose to handle them in the following ways:

• Deal directly with the behavior/problem according to classroom or Company protocol.
• Address the situation on a more personal level.
• Consult with a colleague
• Refer the student to the MDC or BN Chaplain

Guidelines for talking with a student in distress

If a student wants to talk:

• Accept and respect what is said.
• Help determine what needs to be done or changed.
• Try to focus on an aspect of the problem that is manageable.
• Avoid giving advice, judging, evaluating, and criticizing.
• Avoid easy answers such as, "Everything will be all right."
• Help identify resources needed to improve things.
• Help the person recall constructive methods used in the past to cope; get the person to agree to do something constructive to change things.
• Offer yourself as a caring person until professional assistance has been obtained.
• Trust your insight and reactions.
• Let others know your concerns.
• Attempt to address the person's needs and seek appropriate resources.
• Avoid contributing unnecessarily to the person's guilt or sense of failure.
• Do not swear secrecy or offer confidentiality to the person.
• Encourage the person to seek help.
• When called for, let the person know you are worried about their safety.
• If you are concerned the student may be feeling hopeless and thinking about ending their life, ask if she/he is contemplating suicide. It is important to remember that talking about suicide is a cry for help and is not to be ignored.
• Dispel myths about seeking help, such as "I will be seen as weak" or "It will ruin my military career."