Frequently Asked Questions

We are open Monday-Friday 8am to 5pm on regular University business days. 

We are located on the 1st floor of Bond Hall East. We are next door to Luckyday Citizenship Hall. We face Spirit Park and face the back sides of the Thad Cochran Center. There is a large black canopy and access ramp at our front door.

Student Counseling Services offers currently enrolled students free, confidential referrals & counseling services. Our staff can provide referrals to campus and community resources. Students living outside Mississippi can receive a one-time consultation to assure they are informed about resources in their community.

We offer individual and group therapy, referrals to clinics on and off campus, crisis response and intervention, consultations, and education and outreach.

See a list of our current group therapy offerings here.  

Counseling services at Student Counseling Services are always free. If we refer you to other services or resources across the campus or in the community, we will let you know if there are fees associated.

Your first appointment is called an Intake and takes place at our center in Bond Hall (East). In an Intake, we assess your current needs and make referrals (on and off campus) for ongoing support and resources.  

You may contact the Health Center at 228-214-3300 to make an appointment. 

If this is your first appointment, you may visit our Schedule Your First Appointment page to view our online, self-scheduling options.  If you cannot find an online appointment that works for you, you may choose to call 601-266-4829, or come by the SCS office to set up an initial appointment or reschedule a missed appointment.  Besides initial appointments, all other scheduling and rescheduling is managed with your assigned staff person, or by calling the front desk.

We do not make appointments via e-mail.  We cannot engage in counseling via e-mail or text due to concerns for confidentiality and irregular monitoring of incoming messages.  

For counseling needs after-hours, please call 601.266.4829.  Student Counseling Services offers 24/7 care with crisis after-hours support.  To find out more about our after hours care, please visit our In Crisis? page.

At this time, we do not offer digital appointment reminders.  However, we offer appointment cards after every session at our site.  We encourage you to discuss helpful ways to keep track of your appointment with one of our staff.

At SCS all our services are confidential. Your SCS services will not become a part of your academic record. No information revealed in counseling, even the fact that you attended, will be shared with anyone unless you provide written permission for your clinician to discuss this with someone specific.

Exceptions to confidentiality:

• If you are likely to harm yourself or others unless protective measures are taken
• If you lack the capacity to care for yourself
• When there is reasonable suspicion of abuse of children, dependent adults or the elderly
• When there is a valid court order for the disclosure of client files.
• SCS may share pertinent information with referral partners to facilitate continuity of care or support emergency care.  
• Mental health providers have a legal responsibility to disclose client information without prior consent in these situations. Fortunately, this is rare and all measures of security possible are taken to ensure your confidentiality. Data stored electronically is encrypted in our software system.

If you have never scheduled an appointment with SCS, you may visit our Schedule Your First Appointment page to view our online, self-scheduling options for new student clients.

If you have received services from us before,  you will need to call the front desk at 601-266-4829 during University business hours with any questions about appointments.  We do not schedule or discuss appointments via e-mail.

We welcome students to express their preferences. In situations where it is appropriate and available, we will accommodate that preference.

• Students currently enrolled at USM and currently physically located in the state of MS can be considered for telehealth eligibility.
• In compliance with MS state law, we do not offer telehealth services to out of state students.  However, we do provide a one-time consultation to out-of-state students to assure they are informed about resources in their community. 

A mental health crisis occurs when an individual's behaviors put them at risk of harming themselves or others.  The individual may experience limits to their day-to-day level of functioning.

Some examples of a mental health emergency/crisis include, but are not limited to: 

• thoughts of harming yourself or others,
• rapid and unusual changes to mood affecting behavior and safety
• if you believe you are losing touch with reality and experiencing unusual paranoia
• consistent inability to complete daily tasks (i.e., eating, sleeping, bathing, dressing, attending class)

• If it is a USM business day, Monday-Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., you may walk in without an appointment and request to speak with a counselor, or by calling 601-266-4829.
• After hours, to speak to a USM helpnow™ crisis staff, call 601-266-4829 and choose option one (1).

For all off-campus emergencies, we suggest calling or texting 988 to be connected to  local resources and crisis responders. If your physical safety is at immediate risk, dial 911.

For an off-campus mental health crisis after-hours, you may choose to text or dial 988, or call 601-266-4829 and choose option one (1) to speak to a USM helpnow™ crisis staff.

When a student calls us at 601-266-4829 after hours, they should choose option one (1). A helpnow™ crisis staff will answer and help navigate their needs. Also, the helpnow™ crisis staff can connect them to resources. Additionally, the staff can arrange for a student to receive in-person care if the crisis requires that level of support.

• During business hours, you may contact the Gulf Park Health Center at 228-214-3300 and ask for assistance.
• After hours, please call 601-266-4829 and choose option one (1).
   

Students may, instead, choose to dial or text 988, at any time, if they are in emotional distress or experiencing a mental health crisis. When you contact 988, a non-USM crisis professional will answer and provide the support you need. Using 988 is also a healthy option for mental health crisis support. Whether you call our after-hours line or choose 988, you can get the help you need. The most important thing is to make a call for support.

We do not provide ESA documentation. There are providers in the community that can assist with that. These providers charge fees for their services. Please ask community providers about costs for ESA documents when you contact them. If you already have an ESA, contact Student Accessibility Services to see how they can further assist you. 

SCS does not offer psychological evaluations. The Center for Behavioral Health on campus provides testing and assessments as well as other community providers These providers charge fees for their services. Please ask about evaluation costs when you contact them.