What does CAPS offer?
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) has been an integral member of the UCSD community since the late 1960's. We are accredited by the International Association of Counseling Services (IACS). Our integrative and student-centered services are designed to support students towards their academic success and personal development and well-being while at UC San Diego. To this end we deliver:
- High quality, culturally-sensitive, and confidential counseling services, including individual, couples, family and group counseling, crisis/urgent care interventions, and referral services
FREE of charge.
- Psychiatric services and consultation.
- Psycho-educational workshops and drop-in forums grounded on the latest science of optimal well-being and peak performance to support students in their life and leadership skills acquisition.
- A Wellness Peer Education Program, nationally recognized as a model of best practice for empowering students to develop leadership and helping skills.
- Campus mental health and prevention programming focused on stigma-discrimination reduction and community-building.
- Student mentoring and advocacy.
- Outreach and consultation services to faculty, staff and University administrators.
- An APPIC-approved post-doctoral fellowship training program.
Registered undergraduate, graduate and professional school students are welcome for all these services. During the summer, students who were enrolled the previous Spring quarter and are intending to return in the Fall quarter are eligible for services.
When to Use CAPS
Students also consult with us about a variety of more specific personal, academic and relationship problems. No problem or concern is too big or small. Common issues students bring to CAPS are (but not limited to):
- Depression and suicidal thoughts
- Stress and anxiety
- Poor academic performance and stud skills
- Roommate conflicts
- Homesickness and difficulty adjusting to the university
- Disappointing social relationships
- Alcohol and other substance use and abuse
- Difficulty in love relationships
- Loneliness and isolation
- Eating and body image problems
- Depression and suicidal thoughts
- Cultural identity
- Sexuality and sexual identity
- Family conflict
- Grief and loss
To schedule a counseling appointment, please call (858) 534-3755. For more information about appointments, please visit our
Appointments page.
Our Vision
To be a positive and active agent of engagement and transformation in the evolving campus community at UC San Diego; opening pathways and promoting both, the individual and collective mental health and wellbeing of the student as “whole person” embedded in a social context. CAPS manifest this vision through the excellence of services and programs that exist to support all students as they matriculate, learn, graduate, and pursue their educational and personal goals.
Our Mission
CAPS is committed to promoting student mental health and well-being at an individual and organizational level, as well as the preservation and sustainability of an environment conducive to growth and lifelong learning. In coordinated efforts with Student Affairs, CAPS strives to:
- Provide the highest quality of care and services, commensurate with available University resources, to enrolled undergraduate, graduate and professional school students at UC San Diego;
- Support students in their efforts toward their academic success and personal development, as they cultivate interpersonal relationships, leadership skills, and the unfolding of their potential in their quest for meaningful and balanced lives;
- Advocate for student’s welfare from CAPS commitment to diversity, multiculturalism, social justice, and respect for the dignity of each individual;
- Work to identify national and local trends affecting campus life to provide relevant consultation services and strategic, innovative outreach programs in alignment with current needs; and
- Training the next generation of mental health professionals and engaging in research to deliver interventions based on empirical evidence and best practices.
The CAPS mission springs from a communal attempt to address the individual needs of students, and support and enhance the whole student within the best possible learning milieu so that development occurs at both the intellectual and human levels.
Core Values
- Integrity
- Respect
- Compassion
- Balance
- Diversity
- Accountability
- Social Justice
We maintain integrity and respect in our work. We cultivate compassion to better human welfare. We value balance in our lives and in the lives of those we help. We embrace diversity and appreciate individual differences. We are committed to a standard of excellence in our therapeutic, professional, ethical, communal, social justice and environmental responsibilities
CAPS Functions
- Promote well-being and flourishing.
We function to promote the physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual well-being of our students, the UCSD community, and ourselves. We facilitate the optimization of student functioning in all areas of their lives, especially academic functioning. We promote wellness and facilitate optimal student functioning through direct service, collaboration, education, prevention, crisis intervention, self care, advocacy, and social justice.
Diversity at CAPS
CAPS has a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. As shown in our Mission statement, our primary goal is to provide high quality services to students, faculty, staff, and administrators within the context of multicultural sensitivity, equity, and inclusion.
- CAPS promotes such values in ALL its programming, outreach, consultations, and trainings.
- Several of our staff also publish on topics related to cultural competence in counseling work. See our
Staff page for more information.
- Diversity is the foundation of our APPIC-approved
Post-Doctoral Training Pprogram, as well as our pillar within our former APA-accredited internship training program.
- To review all diversity efforts by CAPS, please visit our
Diversity page.
Our Staff
- The staff of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) includes licensed psychologists, board certified psychiatrists, and post-doctoral fellows.
- All of our staff are generalists and see students presenting with a variety of issues. All our staff members possess clinical experience and expertise in working with diverse student populations.
- To see our entire staff and bios, please visit our
Staff page.
- The staff members at CAPS are also researchers and writers. The CAPS clinical staff possess a wide range of publications that deal with various psychology-related topics and issues. To see a list of writings and research reports published by our staff, please go to our
Staff page and select the Staff Publications & Research tab.
Contact Us
- Central Office: (858) 534-3755
- After-Hours Crisis Counseling (24 Hours): (858) 534-3755
- Life-threatening Emergencies: call 911 or go to Emergency Room
- College Offices: Please contact your provider directly with the contact information provided to you at your first meeting or contact the Student Affairs offices listed below under locations.
Hours
- During the academic year: Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm
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SUMMER HOURS: Monday-Friday, 8:00am to 4:00pm
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Urgent Care Hours: 8:00am to 4:00pm
- CAPS Offices are closed on weekends and official University Holidays.
- After-Hours Crisis Counseling (24 Hours): (858) 534-3755
Locations
Please go to our
Locations page for detailed information of each location.
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Central Office:
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Galbraith Hall 190, (858) 534-3755
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Revelle College:
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Provost Administration Building, (858) 534-3493
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Muir College:
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Humanities & Social Science Building (HSS)2126, (858) 534-3587
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Marshall College:
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Marshall Administration Building, (858) 534-4390
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Warren College:
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Computer Science & Engineering Building (CSE), First Floor, (858) 534-4731
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Roosevelt College:
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ERC Administration Building, 3rd Floor, (858) 534-2237
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Sixth College:
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Pepper Canyon Hall, 2nd Floor, (858) 534-1481
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Women's Center:
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Old Student Center, West Building 290, (858) 822-0074
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International Students & Programs Office:
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Old Student Center B, (858) 534-3730
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Student Health Services:
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Group 3 (2nd Floor) and Nurse's Clinic (1st Floor), (858) 534-5571
