Patients usually feel better after leaving a therapy counseling session, but some Miami University students claim they've had the opposite experience at Miami's Student Counseling Center (SCS).

SCS serves registered full-time students on the Oxford campus. The first five sessions of evaluation and counseling are covered by the student's general health fee, with sessions costing $20 after that.

Junior Erica Miner*, a black world studies major, started going to SCS as a first-year.

Miner sought counseling for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). She suffers from trichotillomania, a rare psychological condition in which the person has a strong urge to pull their hair out.

The second semester of her first year, Miner had an enjoyable experience at SCS.

"There was a woman who specialized in OCD and it helped a lot," Miner said.

After her first year she signed up again with SCS, but the woman she'd previously had left Miami.

"I had a different woman and didn't like her," she said. "She was outspoken and rude. I refused to go back."

Dr. Pamela Wilkins, associate director and coordinator at SCS, said all staff at SCS is committed to providing affirming and supportive psychotherapy with an emphasis on diversity services.

Miner's experience strongly differed from that. She said her counselor, an African-American, made racial comments toward her.

"She said, 'I can't believe a white girl can be a black world studies major, I find that pretty funny,'" Miner said.

Miner said the woman also asked personal questions about her sexual life and whether she dated outside of her race. Miner said the woman also said things like, 'Girl, you have a lot of problems.'

"It was completely irrelevant to my treatment," Miner said.

Miner took classes this summer in Oxford. During classes, Miner said her impulses become stronger because stress increases.

She decided to give SCS another chance but was put in a session with the same woman.

"I decided to give her a chance, but she was only going to be there until mid-July," Miner said. "She gave me books to read and said we'd have my problem fixed by mid-July. You can't cure my problem with books about life's journeys."

Miner said she became upset because you can't put a time limit on a problem you've been dealing with for more than three years.

When Miner contacted SCS to request another counselor, SCS claimed all other counselors were unavailable and she said they were unhelpful.

"There was a lack of being professional and respectful. They made me feel like my issues weren't important," Miner said. "I will never go back there again."

Wilkins said anytime a patient has a bad experience during a session they should share their concerns with the counselor.

"Counselors are human beings, too - we have good and not so good days," Wilkins said, via email. "Sometimes it's about a bad personality match and we may then make a different counseling assignment."

Nick Gallop*, a graduate student at Miami, said he's been mistreated by SCS on multiple occasions.

Gallop has a severe chronic mental illness and has taken medication for the past six years.

Gallop said he been treated poorly by the front-desk office workers.

"As I was filling out paperwork and was nervous, the woman said, 'Sir, you're going to have to get your ADD under control because you're hard to understand,'" Gallop said. "That was a really heart-wrenching experience to be labeled with an illness I don't have."

Gallop said when he asked a staff worker if they made reminder phone calls for appointments she responded snidely, "We expect you to remember and be an adult."

Gallop said his main problem at SCS is the front-desk staff.

"There's a generalized coldness and their inhumane treatment shocked me," Gallop said. "For the most part they lack the general social and emotional skills needed to be in a place where you're helping people."

Gallop said at first he thought it was a one-time fluke, but realized it was a continuous trend.

"It's downright awful," he said.

Another criticism Miner found of SCS was the counselor told her they don't offer long-term aid.

"People are far away from home, and some students who may be suicidal need long-term aid to get over those issues," Miner said. "How can you not offer long-term care?"

Wilkins said it's difficult to provide extended services at SCS, when there are more than 16,000 students at Miami.

"We do have a waitlist for ongoing counseling, usually starting in early October," Wilkins said. "When students present issues that are more complex, deeply established and long-term, we often refer them to practitioners in the community, from whom they can receive the very best services in an extended fashion."

Wilkins said SCS works closely with the Student Health Services, the Rinella Learning Center and the Psychology Clinic.

"We do refer students to other services when we are overbooked or when we feel that their needs are best met elsewhere," Wilkins said.

Wilkins said SCS has been offered for at least 50 years. In 2008, SCS held 6,300 individual counseling sessions and 800 group sessions.

Miner said she visited a psychiatrist unaffiliated with Miam after her second bad experience at SCS.

"I told him about my experience at SCS and he was shocked," Miner said. "He recommended anxiety medication because my condition is due in part to a chemical imbalance. They never suggested anything like that at SCS, or that I visit a psychiatrist."

Sophomore Nancy Temple*, an early childhood education major, said she has had a mix of good and bad experiences at SCS.

Temple receives counseling and treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression and anxiety disorder.

Temple said she did not enjoy her experience with the SCS staff psychiatrist.

"He's young and cocky," Temple said. "The doctor told me during a session, 'You have the worst ADHD I've ever seen.' You don't expect to get that treatment at a place you go to get better. It's not right and it made me feel like, 'Why am I coming here, they're making it worse.'"

Although she had negative experience with the psychiatrist, Temple said she had a positive experience with the psychologist she visits.

*Names have been changed per request of the students