Biola UniversityServing Biola University
Welcome. BCC is committed to the alleviation of psychological suffering and to helping Biola students cope with and navigate the challenges of daily living. Our mission includes outreach and provision of mental health services to the students, faculty and staff of Biola University. BCC works to enhance the emotional well-being of students and to support their academic success and retention by providing individual, couple, and group psychotherapy, as well as educational outreach and wellness programming. We seek to help our clients reach their full potential in academic and workplace settings. BCC strives to ensure that those persons who turn to us for support receive the highest level of care possible.
The center is located at the corner of Imperial Hwy and La Mirada Blvd. We are directly across the street from Starbucks and share parking areas with a Presbyterian Intercommunity Health building. The
counseling center can be reached easily by walking or driving, or via cycling or taking the Biola shuttle. If you choose to drive to the center, please be sure to park in the small
parking lot located between the center and La Mirada Blvd. If no
parking is available in that lot, please park in the lower levels of
Presbyterian Intercommunity Health’s subterranean parking structure. There is a bike rack immediately to
the left of the building's main entrance for those students who choose
to ride their bikes to the center.
Services available to members of the Biola community through the Biola Counseling Center include:
Individual Psychotherapy
Individual therapy can be a powerful tool for personal transformation and growth. Whether you are currently experiencing distress or simply want to invest in your personal development and growth, the Biola Counseling Center is here to support you.
Some of the most common issues encountered by our clientele are depression, anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem, emotion management, disordered eating, grieving and mourning, problems with focus and attention, and difficulties with establishing and maintaining relationships.
Therapists at the Biola Counseling Center are available to support you regardless of the issue you would like to discuss.
Group Therapy
The Biola Counseling Center offers a variety of therapy groups in which students can participate. Therapy groups generally consist of four to ten students meeting with a trained therapist in order to discuss what is troubling them. One of the benefits of attending group therapy is that you benefit from both the support of the therapist and the support of other group members.
In group therapy, the therapist works to provide a safe environment in which relationships develop naturally, allowing members to share in accordance with how comfortable they feel in any particular session. Group therapy provides the opportunity for interpersonal learning, acquisition of
information, and the normalization of emotional struggles through mutual
sharing.
Therapy for Couples
Couples counseling is designed to assist couples who are experiencing difficulty in their relationship and who would like a safe place in which both partners can feel heard and understood. Couples counseling can be used to help couples better understand one another, and to learn new and more effective ways to communicate and solve problems.
While each couple presents with unique circumstances, examples of issues
that can be addressed are seemingly irreconcilable differences of
opinion or lifestyle choices, difficulties finding solutions to
repetitive cycles of conflict, domestic violence, infidelity, and
problems with sexual intimacy.
Pre-Marital Counseling Services
Pre-marital counseling is a specific kind of therapy for couples who are engaged or who are seriously considering the possibility of marriage. Couples who choose to engage in pre-marital counseling may be asked to complete an assessment, and may discuss the results of the assessment in counseling with their therapist. Topics for discussion may include how to function as a team, how to support one another through difficult times, beliefs about child-rearing practices, how to establish healthy boundaries with family members, beliefs about managing money, etc. The purpose of pre-marital counseling is to identify relational strengths the couple possesses and to identify any relational patterns that may become a problem in marriage and to establish a realistic set of expectations about the marriage relationship.
Psychological Testing
BCC provides social-emotional and psycho-educational assessment services. Clients often seek assessment for ADHD, learing difficulties, cognitive difficulties, and emotional functioning. Psychological testing can enhance the potential for academic and professional success through identification of specific areas of difficulty that can be targeted for intervention.
Crisis Intervention Services
If you are a Biola student and are feeling out of control and have thoughts of harming yourself or someone else, find help immediately! The Biola Counseling Center offers crisis intervention services for all Biola students whether or not the student is currently being seen by a therapist at the center. Crisis intervention services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you are currently a client at the Biola Counseling Center, call (562) 903-4800, inform the operator that you are in crisis, and ask to speak with your therapist. The operator will make every attempt to reach your therapist, but, in the event that your therapist is unavailable, you may be transferred to the on-call therapist.
If you are not currently a client at the Biola Counseling Center but are a Biola student and are in crisis, call (562) 903-4800 and the operator will assist you with contacting the on-call therapist.
In the event of a life-threatening emergency, call 911.
Outreach Education
BCC offers educational presentations on a variety of mental health and wellness topics such as stress management, positive body image, healthy relationships, etc.