Counseling and Psychological Services

CAPS Mission and Values

Mission

The mission of Florida Atlantic University Counseling & Psychological Services is to provide FAU students with quality, individualize, timely, and effective mental health services that allow them to improve and maintain their mental well-being and therefore to meet their educational, personal, emotional, and psychological goals. CAPS further supports FAU students’ by providing training, consultation, and outreach programming to students, faculty and staff so that they might better respond to the psychological needs of students. CAPS also trains graduate students in the provision of short-term psychological care and contributes to the university’s culture of research.

Values

The following values guide the work of the counseling professionals at the FAU Counseling & Psychological Services Center:

• CAPS values authenticity, integrity, compassion, personal growth, health and wellness, accessibility to treatment, indifivudal differences, and respect for others.
• CAPS will strive to provide maximum quality and accessibility of direct professional mental health services to FAU students in supporting students towards achievement of their academic goals.
• CAPS will seek to encourage self-awareness, personal responsibility, and healthy interpersonal relationships.
• CAPS will maintain open communication between providers, staff, and clients, while at the same time ensuring confidentiality and privacy as mandated by state and federal laws.
• CAPS will treat all individuals with respect.
• CAPS will provide prevention programming and consultation to students, faculty, and staff with the purpose of facilitating healthy development and psychological functioning.
• CAPS will facilitate education and training of students and staff on topics that are germane to the healthy functioning and well-being of FAU students and the FAU community.
• CAPS will ensure that all services provided are vital, current, and ethical.
• CAPS will maintain positive and ongoing relationships with the campus and surrounding community.

Scope of Services

FAU Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) provides free and confidential initial consultation and crisis intervention to assess the current needs of eligible* FAU students (*currently enrolled and have paid the health fee).

Students seek services for a wide variety of concerns, spanning from stress, adjustment, worry and relationship challenges to mental health diagnoses such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Each student will be assessed and provided with recommendations according to their specific needs, whether this comes in the form of short-term individual or group therapy on campus, connection to another campus resource, or assistance with connection to an off-campus provider.

When a student’s needs or requests exceed our capacity to provide the appropriate level of care, CAPS partners with the student to transition to resources within the community. Students who may require a transition of care include, but are not limited to a need or request:

• to be seen more frequently than is feasible.
• for weekly individual services on an ongoing, long-term basis;
• for a treatment modality not provided;
• to be seen differently from what is clinically recommended;
• for documentation for an emotional support animal;
• for mandated treatment;
• or the presence of one or more of the following:
  • severe alcohol and other drug abuse disorders
  • severe eating disorders
  • chronic thoughts and/or attempts of self-injury and/or suicide

Caps Services include the following:

• Brief psychotherapy
  • Individual psychotherapy
  • Relationship counseling (at least one person in the relationship must be enrolled at FAU)
• Group counseling
  • Process groups
  • Support groups
  • Skills-based groups
• Consultations with students, faculty, staff, and family members on mental health topics and crises
• Outreach services to support students’ mental health, well-being, and academic success
• Crisis response and treatment recommendations
  • crisis walk-in sessions to assess, support, and provide appropriate resources to students in crisis.
• Psycho-educational workshops
• Psychological and/or educational assessment (on a limited basis)
• Treatment coordination