The Suspicious Student

Typically, these students complain about something other than their psychological difficulties. They are generally tense, anxious, mistrustful, isolated, and have few friends. They tend to interpret minor oversights as significant personal rejection and often overreact to insignificant occurrences. They see themselves as the focal point of everyone’s behavior and view everything that happens as having special meaning to them. They are overly concerned with fairness and being treated equally. Feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy underlie most of their behavior, though they may seem capable and bright.

What You Can Do:

• Express compassion without intimate friendship. Remember, suspicious students have trouble with closeness and warmth
• Be firm, steady, punctual, and consistent
• Be specific and clear regarding the standards of behavior you expect

Avoid:

• Assuring the student that you are his/her friend. Instead, acknowledge that although you are not a close friend; you are concerned about him/her
• Being overly warm and nurturing
• Flattery or participating in his/her games. You don’t know his/her rules.
• Being cute or humorous
• Challenging or agreeing with any mistaken or illogical beliefs. Be ambiguous

Guide Table of Content

• Typical Concerns for UR Students
• What You Should Know About Student Problems
• Symptoms of Distressed or Distressing Students
• Responding to Distressed or Distressing Students
• Making a Referral to the UR Counseling Center
• Responding to Student Emergencies
• The UR Counseling Center
• Information About Confidentiality
• Mandated Risk Assessment
• Other Campus Referral Sources
• Academic Faculty: Classroom Climate and Prevention
• Responding After a Tragedy: An In-The-Classroom Guide

Addendum

• The Grieving Student
• The Anxious/Shy Student
• The Student Who May Have an Eating Disorder
• The Demanding Student
• The Dependent/Passive Student
• The Depressed Student
• The Student in Poor Contact with Reality
• The Student Suspected of Substance Abuse or Addiction
• The Victim of Stalking
• The Victim of an Abusive Dating Relationship
• The Victim of a Hate Incident
• The Victim of Hazing
• The Student Who Has Been Sexually Harassed (Assaulted)
• The Suicidal Student
• The Suspicious Student
• The Verbally Aggressive Student
• The Violent Student
• The Absent/Disappeared From Class Student
• Responding to Students with Transition Issues
• Responding to the Student with Choice of Major or Career Concerns