Overview
The film business is a dynamic, challenging, and rewarding business to work in. However, film industry culture is one that doesn’t always put an emphasis on supporting or promoting mental health. From long work hours, long overtime requirements, short turnaround hours, and a 24/7 on-call culture to discrimination, cultural insensitivity, gender inequality, and a ubiquitous “you-are-replaceable” attitude, there is much to improve in how it treats its workers.
The College of Motion Picture Arts is dedicated to shifting this approach to working in the industry by being a change-agent in addressing these practices. The goal is to move the profession toward better health and a respect for a sustainable work-life balance. We hope to help create an industry that respects the hard work ethic, passion, and proactive outlook but also cultivates the needed rest, support and security that should go along with that level of commitment from its workers.
To this end, the film school is one of the first colleges to have an embedded mental health specialist — the CMPA Motion Picture Counselor (MPC) — who is dedicated to the students at the college and is available exclusively to film students.
The MPC’s office is located on the first floor of the film school:
Students are seen on a first-come-first-served basis. Services are intended to meet immediate needs and are by design short term. The length and nature of any sessions are determined by the MPC and the student.
How to See the Counselor
Step 1 – Make an appointment
To schedule an initial consultation, message Robyn Gast in Teams.
This first appointment will be 15-30 minutes in length and it won’t feel like traditional therapy; it is more about collecting brief information from you to help the MPC determine what services might be best for you.
If your matter requires immediate attention, please utilize the After-Hours Crisis Line by dialing 850-644-TALK (8255) to be connected to a clinician. If it is an emergency, call FSU Police Dept at 850-644-1234 or dial 911.
Step 2 – Fill out triage forms
Before your appointment, you will need to complete some paperwork by visiting counseling.ucc.fsu.edu and clicking on the “Triage” button. Complete this paperwork directly prior to your scheduled appointment, during counseling business hours (Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm), using a laptop or desktop computer.
Please note: The counseling website for these forms is not accessible outside of these business hours.
Step 3 – Attend a triage consultation
Your first appointment will be a Triage Consultation. This meeting is not a counseling session, but an opportunity for the counselor to learn about what brought you in and to determine your needs. The counselor will make a recommendation for one of three pathways to services, based on what is most appropriate for your situation:
- Individual counseling – Short-term, on-site individual services or single-session therapy.
- Psychoeducational workshops – Skill-building for conflict resolution, communication, boundaries, etc.
- Referral – This may be to campus partners or off-campus services and community resources.
Step 4 – Schedule follow-up appointments
Follow-up appointments are scheduled directly with the MPC.
Hours of Service
The MPC conducts consultations, counseling sessions, and workshops on weekdays between 9:00AM and 4:00PM.
If a student needs to talk to someone during an evening, weekend, or holiday, they can speak with another clinician by calling the After-Hours Crisis Line at 850-644-TALK (8255). A student can also call the FSU Police Department at 850-644-1234 or dial 911 for emergency situations.
Managing Expectations
Early on, you will work on establishing goals for counseling. As therapeutic needs of students vary, you and your counselor will collaborate in making the best plan to reach your goals.
The time you spend in counseling will consist of talking about your concerns. There will likely be some balance between talking about your present-day experiences and adjustments and discussing past experiences or situations in your life that have contributed to the challenges you currently face. The exact focus and balance of the counseling experience will depend on the issues you bring into therapy, your counselor’s perspective, and the preferences voiced over the course of therapy.
A successful counseling experience often has ups and downs. At times you will feel as if you are making rapid progress; at other times you may feel stuck. This is natural, but you can make important contributions to ensure the success of your counseling experience by being open and honest about your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.
It is also important to prioritize your mental health, attend all scheduled appointments, and apply what you have learned between sessions.
Confidentiality
Your sessions with the Motion Picture Counselor and attendant records are confidential, but there may be exceptions. Your information may be discussed with staff in Counseling & Psychological Services for treatment, administrative, supervisory, and training purposes. Release of information outside Counseling & Psychological Services requires your written permission with the following exceptions:
- If there is clear and present danger to you or to others, such as risk of suicide, homicide, or abuse of children or vulnerable adults.
- If you are a minor or an incapacitated adult, we may release information to a parent or guardian.
- If a court order requires the release of information.
Please note that we are required by law to report cases of current abuse, abandonment, neglect, or exploitation of a child or vulnerable adult. Past abuse must be reported when there is a possibility of current danger to any child or vulnerable adult (e.g., a child living with an abuser).
We may be required to disclose your health information to authorized federal officials who are conducting national security and intelligence activities or providing protective services to the President or other important officials. By law we cannot reveal when we have disclosed such information to the government.
Psychoeducational Workshops
The film school will never require individual counseling. At times it may recommend seeing the MPC or seeking other counselor services, but it will not require any on-going individual therapy.
However, when students exhibit issues that are disrupting collaborative processes or curricular teams, then the administration may require individual students or groups of students to undergo psychoeducational workshops to address person-to-person or group issues. These workshops are not “therapy” in the professional sense, but instead are primarily centered around creative teams that have become dysfunctional or disruptive. The goal of these assigned workshop sessions is for the MPC to guide the individuals or the teams to resolve conflicts, creative differences, interpersonal issues, or other professional collaborative issues impeding the creative and curricular work of the individual or group.
These workshops maybe assigned by administration as part of a first response to an issue, or as part of a professionalism remediation plan. to get students back on track with their professional collaborations, but the workshops themselves are not “graded” or part of any evaluation process. Only the participation in any of these assigned workshops will be considered in a grade, remediation, or dismissal process. The student only needs to attend assigned workshops and not be disruptive to the process for the student to receive credit for the completion of the workshop.