A variety of counseling resources are available to you as a student. The most obvious ones are features of your life within the seminary community. The seminary pastor, your faculty adviser, and the staff of Student Services are available for conversations and consultations.

Additional counseling resources are also available to you through the professional services of counselors in the Twin Cities. As the Dean of Students, I want to encourage you to make use of such professionals when you are ready to address more complicated issues in your life as a seminarian. Tending to our health and wholeness as real human beings is a necessary asset for ministry.

To make it easier for you to connect with such a professional, Luther Seminary now has a contract with the staff of Westminster Counseling Center to provide easily accessible, affordable counseling services. Westminster Counseling Center is housed at Westminster Presbyterian Church, located at Nicollet Mall and 12th Street in Minneapolis. Appointments are made by calling 612-332-7743.

If you choose to access these services, Luther Seminary will reimburse half of the uninsured portion of your expenses up to $300 during an academic year. You can anticipate paying between $25 to $50 per visit. All accounting is handled at Westminster and no referral from the seminary is needed. If you are interested in counseling, simply call and make an appointment. Couples are also welcome to make use of this service.

As a Luther Seminary student you may also choose to seek counseling from other professional counselors. Half of the uninsured expense, up to $300, will be paid by the seminary for these services. However, for counselors not at Westminster Counseling Center, you will need to bring a bill to the Student Services Office for reimbursement. Please feel free to talk to me, a member of the faculty, or the seminary pastor if you are facing difficult issues in your life. Your well-being matters to all of us in the seminary community.

Yours in Christ,
Patricia Lull
Dean of Students

The Westminster Counseling Center provides the following questions to guide you in deciding if you might benefit from counseling. Do you ...

• Feel empty, uncertain of what you believe or what life  means?

• Find yourself confused or uncertain in the midst of a major life event?

• Feel sad, tired, angry, moody, or uninterested in things that normally interest you?

• Often feel anxious, fearful or panicked?

• Feel unhappy or hopeless in your marriage or significant relationships?

• Have troubling thoughts or memories from the past?

• Find your family, friends, job or self-esteem jeopardized by your actions and choices?

If you recognize yourself in any of these or related profiles, Westminster Counseling Center may be a place to find understanding and professional care that includes respectful concern for your spiritual needs and your right to confidentiality. You may contact Westminster directly to make an appointment or to get more information by calling 612-332-7743.