Discussing Our Choices is a program for students who want unbiased information about alcohol and drugs and are interested in exploring their own choices about using them. Since the program is educational in format, the presenters take no position on what the participants choose for themselves.
The program satisfies an educational experience requirement from Judicial Affairs.
All sessions are held at the Counseling Center, located in Simmons Hall 306, and are limited to 14 persons.
As more persons want to register, more dates will be added.
Call 330-972-7082 to register.
All sessions are run by professional staff at the Counseling Center.
Yes. The program is confidential as per the rules for psychologists. This means that if a student wants us to inform anyone that he or she attended, we would have to have written instructions to do so. Without written instructions to disclose your attendance, we will not even acknowledge we know who you are to outside persons.
We will have a confidentiality form for you to sign at the beginning of the session if you would like us to inform anyone (typically Student Judicial Affairs) of your presence. We do not relate what transpired or what you said, only that you participated in the program. Note that while we ask all the students participating in the workshop to keep what they hear confidential, the other students are not bound by the confidentiality rules that the staff must follow.
No more than two hours.
Without preaching what to do, the program does demonstrate a preference for safer over dangerous activities. For example, the risks of gross intoxication, "drunk fights," and even the risks of drinking hard alcohol directly out of the bottle are covered. The decision about what each student plans to do around substance use is his or hers to make. The format of the workshop is centered around presenting information concerning harm reduction and allowing the student to decide what is best for him or her.
Anyone can attend on a voluntary basis. If a student is mandated by a court to attend an "education program," attendance at this educational group may be sufficient. The court mandating the education program will be informed of the student's participation, if the student directs us to do so in writing. If you choose to keep your attendance confidential, no one will be informed of your presence.
The University of Akron's "Discussing our Choices" program is based on the University at Albany's award winning "Discussing our Choices" program, originally developed by Daniel Trujillo, PhD. Special thanks to Emily Mowry, PhD. (Ohio Wesleyan University) and Flora Casallas, Psy.D., CASAC (University at Albany) for their help in developing this program.