Appointments
The Counseling Center is open Monday-Friday from 8:30-5:00. You can schedule an appointment one of two ways:
- In-person: Walk in to The Counseling Center (3rd floor of Robert Scott Smalls Building) during business hours and ask to schedule an intake (new clients) or follow-up (existing clients) appointment.
- By phone: Call 843.953.5640 during business hours and speak to our front desk staff.
Appointments are scheduled as soon as possible based on both student and counselor’s availability. At your intake appointment, you will be asked to complete some computer forms before meeting with a counselor to discuss your concerns and goals. . The counselor will then share recommendations for services based on the information gathered. These recommendations might include short-term individual or group counseling at the Counseling Center, connecting with an off-campus provider for treatment, referral to alternate campus resources, or a combination of these.
Cancellation/No-Show Policy
Due to the high demand for services offered by the Counseling Center, missed appointments or arriving late results in lost opportunities for counselors to work with other students who might need help. If you are unable to keep your appointment, please call to cancel at least 24 hours in advance so another student can use that time. A pattern of cancellations or same-day rescheduling might result in a referral to an outside provider.
- A $25 fee will be charged to your registration account if:
- You do not attend a scheduled intake or follow-up appointment (no-call/no-show)
- You cancel or reschedule less than 24 hours before your appointment (may be waived with documentation of extenuating circumstances)
What type of appointment should I make?
At the Counseling Center there are three types of appointments you can make, and which one you choose will depend on your needs.
If you would like to discuss beginning or resuming ongoing therapy services, you should choose to make an initial appointment. The initial appointment will be approximately an hour long. During that time, you will complete paperwork and meet with a counselor to discuss your concerns. You and your counselor will discuss whether CAPS or a community referral will best fit your needs for follow-up appointments. If you will be continuing services at CAPS, you will make decisions together about your goals for therapy, and determine together how often you will schedule follow-up appointments. Ongoing therapy focuses on creating meaningful changes in your life, and is appropriate for any of the following reasons:
- Treating a mental health concern such as depression or anxiety
- Healing from a history of trauma (e.g., emotional, physical, or sexual abuse)
- Learning to manage difficult family relationships, or build healthy relationships with others
- Address concerns about your substance use
If you already have an assigned counselor, and it has been less than six months since your last appointment, you can make a follow-up appointment to see that counselor again. Follow-up appointments are 45-50 minutes long. If your last appointment was longer than six months ago, you will need to schedule an initial appointment to update your paperwork and reopen your file, and you may be assigned to a new counselor.
We also have same-day timely access appointments available. Timely access appointments are 25 minutes long and focus on accessing support to process intense feelings or reactions to situational stressors, or may focus on creating solutions. There are a number of reasons you may choose to schedule a timely access appointment.
- You are interested in as-needed support rather than regularly scheduled ongoing therapy sessions.
- Feeling overwhelmed by a situational stressor.
- Needing help to make a decision.
If your concern is urgent or you feel you are in crisis, please come in during office hours! If you are in crisis you DO NOT need to make an appointment. It is appropriate to use crisis support for any of the following reasons.
- You are experiencing suicidal thoughts and may act on them.
- You are having thoughts of harming someone else and may act on them.
- You believe your life is in danger.
- You are hearing or seeing things others cannot hear or see.
- You have been physically or sexually assaulted.
How do I make an appointment?
How to make an appointment depends on what type of appointment you would like to make. To set up an initial or follow-up appointment, please submit an appointment request form (this form is not to be used outside of 8:30 am to 5PM). Most students are scheduled for their first appointment within two weeks, depending on the availability provided. To ensure you are scheduled in a timely manner, please provide as much availability as possible. In most cases, requests are responded to on the same day they are submitted, or the next business day that classes are in session (i.e., a request submitted after business hours on Friday would be answered on Monday morning).
To make a same-day (or timely access), appointment, please call the front desk to schedule. There are a limited number of same-day appointments available, and they will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. In the event that you need immediate assistance due to a life-threatening crisis, please call 911 or Campus Public Safety at 843-953-5609 for on-campus assistance. After business hours, you can call the Counseling Center line, and press 3 to speak with Protocall, which provides support from a counselor after hours.