Counseling & Psychological Services

Welcome

Counseling and Psychological Services are available to regularly enrolled, part time, or full time students from Humboldt State University.

Services Include

Psychological assessment, short term individual and couples counseling, groups and workshops, information and referral, and crisis intervention.

Staff psychologists are available Monday through Friday for emergency counseling. No fees are required for these services.

Confidentiality

Your right to privacy is important to us. We are required to hold everything you say in confidence, except as authorized by you in a signed release or as provided by law.

Exceptions by Law Are

  • If we believe you intend to harm yourself.
  • If we believe you intend to harm others.
  • If you discuss a situation where a child or an elder is at significant risk for abuse.
  • If we are court-ordered to release records.

Hours

Counseling & Psychological Services will be closed for the summer beginning Thursday, May 21st and reopen Monday, August 17th and begin regular hours Monday, August 24th. If you have an emergency during this time, please call County Mental Health at 445-7715 or 911.

Assessment

First Session

If this is your first time coming to CAPS, this academic year, you will need an Initial Assessment with a therapist. This session helps the therapist get to know you and your concerns. At the end of the session, the two of you will determine the best course of action, including the possibility of on-going counseling at CAPS or elsewhere.

Scheduled Assessment

Provides a 50 minute discussion. If you are not in crisis and feel you can wait to discuss your issue, you should schedule this assessment through our receptionist. A scheduled assessment provides for more time to discuss your concerns than our drop-in system allows. Assessments can be scheduled any time during our open hours. Bring your student ID card to our office and our receptionist will have you fill out our paperwork and schedule you for an appointment.

Drop-In Services

Drop-In Services are designed to help when any of the following apply:

  1. You are in crisis.
  2. You are unable to schedule a regular appointment in a timely enough fashion considering the immediacy of your issue.
  3. You are not interested in ongoing counseling and just want to meet with a therapist for a session or two.

Drop-In Assessments

If you have an acute issue that you feel you need to discuss immediately, you should use our drop-in assessment program. (The receptionist can tell you the potential wait-time for a scheduled assessment to help in your determination.) A drop-in assessment is generally 30 minutes in length. Drop-in assessments take the place of having a scheduled assessment.

Drop-In Assessment times are: Tues. & Weds., 1 - 3 p.m.

Drop-In Counseling

Drop-In Counseling sessions are an alternative to scheduled appointments. They are available to students that have already participated in an Initial Assessment during the current academic year. It is designed to be helpful with immediate concerns that can achieve good resolution within 1 - 2 short sessions (usually 30 min.) , as well as being available to those who are in crisis. If you already have a CAPS therapist assigned, you should only use the drop-in counseling system for acute crises. Drop-in sessions are not designed to provide ongoing counseling for chronic concerns.

Drop-In Sessions are provided on a first-come, first served basis; however, students in crisis will be given priority.

Drop-In Counseling times are: Mondays, 1 - 3 p.m.

Crisis Services

Crisis counseling is available during our open hours, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. This service is available to students on a first come/first serve basis.

If you are in crisis at the time you come in to CAPS, you should ask to meet with the on-call therapist rather than scheduling an appointment.

Generally, a crisis entails one or more of the following:

  1. Feeling so overwhelmed that it is significantly interfering with your functioning (for example, persistent difficulties with attending class, eating or sleeping, etc.). This can sometimes be due to a recent traumatic experience such as a death in the family, significant break-up, an assault, car accident, etc.
  2. Engaging in self-destructive behaviors that feel out-of-control and/or that put your health at significant risk (e.g., binge drinking, excessive drug use, eating disordered behaviors such as purging, etc.).
  3. Having thoughts or plans of hurting or killing yourself or someone else. (Or concern about someone else's suicidal thoughts or behaviors).
  4. Losing touch with reality or having otherwise disturbing behaviors.

Group Therapy

Group themes and times vary, please see the listing of our groups for information. To get further information about a group, please contact the group leader/s or schedule an appointment at CAPS to have a counselor help you to determine the group/s that will best fit your needs.

Location

Counseling & Psychological Services is located on the second floor of the Health Center. To arrange an appointment, come to our reception office located at SHC 205.

Services Are NOT Available To

  • Extension Students
  • Over 60 Program Students
  • College of the Redwoods Students
  • Veterans Upward Bound Students

If you belong to one of the above groups and would like assistance in determining the resources that would best meet your needs, we would be happy to help. Call us for information.

Contact Us

Counseling & Psychological Services
1 Harpst Street
Arcata, CA 95521
Appointments: (707)826-3236
Fax: (707)826-5735
Email: hsucaps@humboldt.edu

Email messages are managed by the CAPS office manager & may not be responded to immediately. For acute or confidential concerns please call us rather than using email.