By Isabella Darcy
News Editor
Counseling and Prevention Services is implementing new walk-in hours this semester, where students can visit the CAPS office and meet with a clinician within minutes in an effort to remove barriers to care and make seeking support more accessible.
As of Aug. 27, any student can promptly see a therapist by visiting Eickhoff Hall Room 114 between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. CAPS has always been open for students in need of urgent care to walk in during its operating hours, but the new specified hours allow for anyone who is seeking support, urgent or not, to meet with a clinician.
“We want to make it as easy and seamless as possible for students to get the mental health care they need,” said Beverly Mason, director of CAPS.
CAPS has a staff of six clinicians who work on a rotating schedule that allows for one of them to work with walk-ins each day. Students who visit the CAPS office should tell the front desk that they would like to make an appointment to immediately speak with a therapist. Those students will then meet with the designated clinician, as they become available.
The walk-in appointment takes approximately 10 minutes. During that time, the therapist gathers information and works with the student to create a care plan, depending on the student's reason for seeking support. This entails connecting the student to a mental health professional, either on or off-campus, depending on their needs.
Since its first day of operation, students have been taking advantage of this new opportunity, according to Mason.
In the past, students with non-urgent needs who wanted to meet with a CAPS clinician were required to fill out an online Request for Services form. They would then have to wait for CAPS to call them to schedule an appointment, which would be followed by another waiting period before the appointment itself.
“That doesn’t really work with [the current] generation,” said Mason. “Phones are not for calling, so we were spending a great deal of time tracking students down to set up appointments.”
The RFS form is still open, but students who do not want to go through the online process, cannot find an appointment that fits their schedule, or would rather quickly speak with someone in-person can receive care by walking in.
“I’d probably rather go in-person with the open hours,” said Ryan Mendes, a sophomore business management major. “I wouldn’t be one to schedule an online appointment, and I think it’s a good thing for people to be able to go and talk to someone whenever they need it.”
Emily Black, a sophomore nursing major, also said that she believes the new open hours are a positive addition to CAPS.
“I would feel more comfortable going in-person than scheduling online,” said Black.
There is no limit to the number of times a student can use the walk-in hours to seek support. However, the office’s goal is to help students find and receive the care they need after their first time walking in. If that goal is met, the same student would not need to walk in more than once.
“I’m really hopeful that this is an improvement that students like and take advantage of,” said Mason. “There's no problem too big or too small for you to ask about at CAPS.”
