Counseling Services

Need support? Counseling Services offers a welcoming and confidential space for all students to receive support and explore opportunities for personal growth.

Wellness Center

Counseling Services are dedicated to supporting the health and well-being of our students. We are available to support student’s emotional and personal growth, and academic goals by providing quality mental health services. When challenges rise, our professional clinical staff will work collaboratively with students to process personal concerns, learn new coping strategies, brainstorm solutions, and access referrals and resources.

Counseling Services provide free, confidential, short-term counseling for full-time undergraduate students. Counseling Services is staffed with experienced professional therapists who can help with a wide variety of college-age mental health concerns, as well as basic life stressors and social concerns. Our clinicians are sensitive to issues of age, race, gender, ethnic background, religion, sexual orientation, citizenship, and ability.

In the event of situations requiring immediate attention, the office can provide same-day services in response to such events (i.e., serious mental health conditions, current or recent traumatic experiences, and life-threatening circumstances).

Counseling Services Information

    • Personal confidential personal assessment and counseling
    • Short-term, problem focused individual counseling
    • Group Counseling/ psychoeducation
    • Crisis intervention and mental health assessments
    • Residence hall programming
    • Classroom presentations
    • Educational outreach and programs
    • Student club and organization training
    • Alcohol and drug abuse counseling/ education
    • Resources and referrals for community partners
    • Adjusting to college
    • Alcohol/substance use and abuse
    • Anxiety
    • Body image
    • Depression
    • Eating concerns
    • Family matters
    • Grief/ loss
    • Identity loneliness/ homesickness
    • Relationships
    • Roommates
    • Self-esteem
    • Sexuality
    • Sexual assault
    • Time management

  • MaryAnn Silvestri, M. Ed, LMHC, CAGS

    Director of Counseling
    m.silvestri@assumption.edu
    508-767-7275

    MaryAnn Silvestri is a Licensed Mental Health Clinician and the Director of Counseling Services. MaryAnn holds a master’s degree in education with a focus on mental health. She is a licensed school adjustment counselor and a has Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in parenting education. Before working in higher education MaryAnn worked in public education as a school adjustment counselor for grades k-8. MaryAnn utilizes a solution-focused model, rooted in cognitive and dialectical behavioral therapies.  She works collaboratively with students to identify roadblocks that may be impacting their personal growth. MaryAnn specializes in supporting neurodiverse students, trauma-informed care, and crisis intervention. MaryAnn is certified in evidence-based trauma treatment modalities such as EMDR, Emotional Freedom Technique, and Progressive Counting. 

    Nicole Breen, M.Ed., LMHC

    Assistant Director
    nm.breen@assumption.edu
    508-767-7275

    Nicole Breen is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) with a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Springfield College and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Assumption University. Nicole has worked with a diverse range of individuals within higher education, outpatient, correctional, and school settings. She has a student affairs background with experience in student engagement and residential life. Nicole values a holistic care model, which focuses on treating the student as a whole to address personal life challenges effectively. She works diligently to provide a comfortable and safe environment for diverse student experiences and needs. Nicole recognizes that counseling is not a one-size-fits-all approach and presents a personalized, flexible, and collaborative space for all students.

  • Who seeks counseling and why?
    Counseling offers a safe place to explore issues that are affecting you, get help figuring out what your options are, and develop ideas about how to handle different situations. A counselor can provide objective feedback, offer some new ways to cope with situations, provide information about other resources, or just simply listen while you sort through an issue out loud.

     

    What do students talk about in counseling?
    Students can talk to personal counselors about roommates, homesickness, adjusting to college, academic concerns, difficulty sleeping, relationship issues, anxiety, depression and much more. The information you share in your personal counseling sessions is confidential. No one has access to what you say in your sessions, or even that you are coming to Counseling Services for counseling, unless you give written permission for your counselor to share that information. Counseling Services staff are bound by confidentiality.

     

    Is there a fee for counseling services?
    Counseling services are included in the tuition of full-time students.