FAQs for Parents
About the Center for Counseling and Psychological Health (CCPH)
- What does the CCPH offer?
- How does my student access services?
- My student is in long-term treatment and/or on psychotropic medication. How can I help with the transition to college?
- What should I do if my student calls me in distress? What if I'm worried?
- What if mental health difficulties affect my student's academics?
- If my student needs time away from school, what should they do?
What does the CCPH offer?
The CCPH provides evaluation, crisis intervention and stabilization, brief therapy, behavioral medicine, group therapy, attention deficit/hyperactivity and learning disability assessments, and psychiatric medication services.
Our short-term and intermittent therapies focus on helping students function in a university environment. The length of treatment varies, and is determined by your student and their clinician.
The CCPH does not have the capacity to manage chronic conditions requiring intensive or frequent contacts. If our short-term care model won't adequately meet your student's needs, the clinician will recommend referral resources. We maintain relationships with community providers offering a range of expertise, and who accept a variety of insurance plans.
How does my student access services?
Students should call (413) 545-2337 between 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. for a telephone triage appointment. After an initial discussion, the clinician will make recommendations; these include routine appointments, urgent appointments (usually within 24 to 48 hours) or emergency services. Students whose needs cannot be met by our short-term care model may be referred to a community provider.
My student is in long-term treatment and/or on psychotropic medication. How can I help with the transition to college?
Continuing care can be critical to adjustment and wellbeing and we recommend planning well in advance of your student's arrival on campus. In many cases (particularly for stable, routine medication management), it may be best to continue seeing your home provider. For other students, it may make sense to receive services on campus or from a local provider. If a transition is planned, it's critical for your home provider to be in contact with the new provider to ensure continuity of care.
What should I do if my student calls me in distress? What if I'm worried?
When you talk with your student, try to identify the nature of the issue and suggest available resources. For:
• academic concerns, students can speak with their professor or academic dean.
• medical concerns, contact University Health Services, (413) 577-5000.
• housing or roommate issues, call Housing and Residence Life, (413) 545-2100.
• relationship problems, depression, anxiety or other issues, call the CCPH for a triage appointment.
If you're concerned and want to speak with one of our professionals about your student, phone the CCPH and ask for the on-call clinician.
If you believe your student may hurt themselves or others, or if they can't care for themselves, call the CCPH, (413) 545-2337 and ask for the emergency on-call clinician. If there's an immediate risk or injury, call the UMass Police Department, (413) 545-2121.
What if mental health difficulties affect my student's academics?
Psychological disability services are available for students whose mental health is affecting academic performance. To receive services, students must provide documentation of the disability from a medical or mental health professional. Call the CCPH, (413) 545-2337, to learn more.
If my student needs time away from school, what should they do?
Meet with a CCPH clinician, who can file a medical withdrawal for mental health reasons. The student will be withdrawn from all courses for the current semester; the semester transcript will indicate non-specific withdrawal (“W”).
Students are expected to take an additional semester off after withdrawing, to address the issues that led to withdrawal. To apply for readmission, the student must meet with the clinician who completed the medical withdrawal and demonstrate readiness to return. The clinician has the ultimate decision regarding readmission after a medical withdrawal for mental health reasons.
The deadline for readmission interviews is June 30 for the fall semester and Nov. 30 for the spring semester.
