Counseling Services at Thomas College promotes the personal, developmental, and psychological well-being of students with the goal of helping students to be successful in all facets of life. Services are free and available to all full-time day students during the academic year. We are staffed by a full-time and a part-time master’s level clinicians.
Thomas College maintains a list of Counseling and Mental Health Resources for our community.
Carol Jollotta, LCSW
Carol (she/her) has worked in a variety of roles in the mental health field in the Central Maine area. She has been providing counseling to students at Thomas for over 10 years. She views her role as a bit of a co-pilot, partnering with students to find their voice, develop as independent adults, identify what’s important to them and then work together toward their goal. What Carol loves about counseling at Thomas is that for many students she is the first counselor they have had. She hopes to give them a positive first experience so they will see counseling as a resource they can use as needed throughout their lifetime. When away from Thomas, Carol can be found on any variety of hiking trails in Maine and beyond.
Gretchen Fall Sawyer, LCPC, LADC
Gretchen (she, her, hers) loves being a part-time counselor here at Thomas since 2021. For the past 20 years, Gretchen has done all sorts of counseling including play therapy with kids, mental health counseling with college students and adults as well as being a substance use counselor at grades 6-12 school. She also likes teaching college counseling courses and supervising counseling students. When Gretchen is not at Thomas, she likes having coffee with friends on the deck, digging in her garden, dancing with her significant other and swimming.
Confidentiality
Counseling Services operates within strict professional guidelines regarding confidentiality. We are obligated to keep what you say confidential. No information about your counseling will be released to, or discussed with, anyone outside Counseling Services without your explicit, written permission. There are a few safety related exceptions which are discussed at an initial session.
Set Up An Appointment
Students with questions related to counseling services or who are interested in scheduling an appointment should email Carol Jollotta, LCSW directly at: counselor@thomas.edu.
Appointments
An appointment typically lasts about 45 minutes. The first session consists of completing some paperwork, ensuring that any of your questions about the process are answered, and then working together to identify what brings you to counseling and how best to help you.
A first appointment is typically offered within one week. Sometimes same day appointments are possible. Frequency of appointments will vary. You and your counselor will decide what is best for you. Appointments are available in person as well as via teletherapy.
Teletherapy
Teletherapy is provided via HIPAA compliant Microsoft Teams video calls and requires that the student is located in Maine at the time of the appointment and is by themself in a private space. Some students prefer the virtual format for numerous reasons. This service is convenient and for busy students, can fit into their schedules more easily.
What Kinds of Things to Talk About
People talk with a counselor about a wide variety of topics ranging from a single stressful situation to chronic mental health concerns. Among the most common topics are anxiety, relationship struggles, adjustment issues, trauma, depression, and substance use. You need not wait for your struggle to get “really bad” to meet with a counselor. The sooner you ask for help, the sooner you are able to get yourself back on track.
Counseling and Mental Health Resources
Local Area Hospitals
- Maine General Medical Center Thayer Center for Health
(207) 872-1000
North St, Waterville - Northern Light Inland Hospital
(207) 861-3000
200 Kennedy Memorial Dr, Waterville
Crisis Services
- 988 – call or text — National suicide prevention hotline
- 1-888-568-1112 Maine based Crisis hotline
- Crisis Text Line – Text “Hello” to 741741
- Text “Steve” to 741741 crisis service serving people of color
- Veterans Crisis Line – 1-800-273-8255, chat at veteranscrisisline.net, or text to 838255
- Trevor Hotline – call 1-866-488-7386 or Text “Trevor” to 1-202-304-1200. Suicide prevention hotline for people who identify as LGBTQ+
- Family violence Project – 1-877-890-7788 for crisis response. 207-623-3569 during business hours. www.familyviolenceproject.org
- Sexual Assault Crisis and Support center – 1-800-871-7741 www.silentnomore.org
Substance Use
- Alcoholics Anonymous – www.aa.org
- Al-Anon www.al-anon.org – for those negatively impacted by another person’s use of alcohol
- Narcotics Anonymous www.na.org
LGBTQ+ Resources
- The Trevor Project – www.thetrevorproject.org
- Health Equity Alliance www.healthequity.org sexual health and wellness services for people living with HIV, and the LGBTQ+ community
BIPOC Resources
- The Steve Fund – stevefund.org Dedicated to the mental health and emotional well-being of students of color