Columbia University Health Services

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Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) supports the psychological and emotional well-being of the campus community by providing counseling, consultation, and crisis intervention. For more information go to Making Appointments.

One of Columbia’s greatest strengths lies in the diversity of its community, with students and staff coming from myriad backgrounds across the United States and beyond. Living in a diverse community helps students develop in a number of important ways, by exposing them to different values, attitudes and opinions. As students forge their own identities, it is these differences that will foster change and growth.

At the same time, life in a diverse community has its challenges. For some students, college may be the first time they are encountering peers who come from different backgrounds. Some students will react by longing for the familiar and missing their friends back home, or worrying that they have changed so much that their old friends won’t recognize them. Others will embrace newness and identify strongly with their Columbia friends. These feelings are quite normal and may shift back and forth over time, as students struggle to figure out who they are now.

As a parent, you can help your children negotiate this transition by letting them know that you know this is a normal rite of passage. You can also encourage them to be open to both the old and the new by being open yourselves. Encourage them to take chances when it comes to considering other ways of thinking or being. Remind them that, even if their new friends differ from their old friends, they don’t have to give up one or the other. Things seldom have to be all or nothing, even though it can feel that way at times.

For more information go to Counseling and Psychological Services.