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Let's Talk Program

What is CIS Abroad’s Let’s Talk Program?

Our “Let’s Talk” service provides easy access to informal confidential consultations with a counselor who knows students, and understands the unique pressures that students face when traveling, studying or interning abroad.

Why is CIS Abroad offering this service?

Students often face different kinds of challenges abroad, including mental health ones. When facing these situations we want to provide the greatest support possible. Working through challenges is part of life, but when students are abroad, they may be far from their support networks back home. Let’s Talk is a way for students to easily access someone who can listen and guide them through challenges and get back to enjoying life and thriving abroad.

Who is Let's Talk for?

This service is for any participant on a CIS Abroad program who feels like they’d like an informal conversation with a counselor. This includes:

A student feeling the impact of culture shock
A student having trouble adjusting to life abroad
A student not making friends easily, or struggling with a roommate.
A student just wanting a nonjudgmental listener because they don’t quite feel right.
A student who is not sure what counseling is about but wants to try it.
A student is concerned about a fellow participant and would like some thoughts from a professional.

Who is Let's Talk not intended for?

This service is not intended for emergency situations, or situations in which a student would benefit more by speaking with a psychologist or psychiatrist. If a student has had a traumatic experience, we encourage them to speak with a trained specialist, in-person. If a student is severely depressed or otherwise diagnosed with a mental health issue that needs regular monitoring, or is at risk of harming themselves or others, we encourage them to speak with a trained mental health professional, face to face, as soon as possible.

When is the Let’s Talk counselor available?

Our counselor has available hours on their digital calendar, Monday through Friday. Students sign up in advance to ensure that both parties can be available at the scheduled time. Students accepted on our program get access to the schedule of dates and times.

How does CIS Abroad’s Let’s Talk work?

Students book a time that works for them directly on our counselor’s calendar. They are given a video meeting link that they will click on during the scheduled session. The session will last approximately 30 minutes. It is that simple.

What is the cost of Let’s Talk?

There is no fee for this service – it is part of the program package that CIS Abroad provides to our students.

What if I am a student on a different continent, can I access CIS Abroad’s Let's Talk at an hour that works for me?

Our counselor resides in Europe, but has availability in the morning and in the evening, so multiple time zones are accommodated.

Where did the Let’s Talk program model come from?

Let’s Talk is an innovative service pioneered by Cornell University to help to meet the needs of students by providing flexible, easy-to-access, mental health support. Since the establishment of Cornell’s Let’s Talk program a decade ago, more than 225 US universities have started their own Let’s Talk programs. More about Cornell’s Let’s Talk can be found here.

What if I'm currently seeing a counselor, and I would like to talk to someone sooner than my next appointment?

If your next appointment is not soon enough, it’s best to contact your counselor directly to see if they can see you sooner. However, you can also book a session with CIS Abroad’s Let’s Talk counselor.

Wait, who is the CIS Abroad Let’s Talk Counselor?!

Evgenia Karamani

Evgenia Site Director in Greece CIS Abroad

Evgenia is a certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor, located in Athens, Greece, where she holds counseling sessions with children and adults in her private office. She is trained in cognitive-behavioral and psychoanalytic-psychodynamic models of therapy. She has a deep understanding for mental health difficulties relating to mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, ADHD, PTSD and neurodevelopmental disorders, offering her professional advice to people in need. Evgenia has also served as CIS Abroad’s Site Director for Athens, Greece managing all issues pertaining to study abroad programs in her region. She therefore knows firsthand all the challenges that adjusting to and living in a foreign country can pose to study abroad students and can help them have a smoother experience.

Travel Tip:
To explore a new country, I choose to walk rather than take transportation even for longer distances. It helps you better feel the vibration and get into the pace of local life. Makes you hungrier for local dishes, too!

What else do I need to know?

Although our counselor is a professional, the Let’s Talk session is not a substitute for psychotherapy or formal counseling, and does not constitute mental health treatment. Our counselor can help students determine whether formal counseling would be useful and, if appropriate, assist in recommending ways to go about booking an appointment.

Let's Talk sessions are confidential. Are there any limits to confidentiality?

Conversations with our counselor are confidential, with a few rare exceptions. The counselor may need to share information in an emergency when there is an immediate threat of harm to self or others. Counselors are required by law to report when a minor, elderly person, or someone otherwise incapacitated and unable to act on his/her own behalf. Our counselor will keep some written notes of their contacts with students, and in the event that there is an emergency or a student needs further assistance they may pass on these notes. Finally, these notes can be released in the unlikely event of a court order. Let’s Talk conversations are never noted on a student’s CIS Abroad record.