Tell Me About UCC

The University Counseling Center (UCC) provides time-limited individual and couples therapy and year-long group therapy to members of the University of Rochester community who pay the mandatory student health fee. Individual and couples therapy appointments last 45-50 minutes, while therapy groups run for 1 hour and 20 minutes

Who are the Counseling Center therapists?

Our therapists are licensed professionals and professionals-in-training from a variety of mental health disciplines. They employ many treatment approaches and draw upon a wide range of training and experience in the field of psychotherapy.

Our nurse practitioner and consulting psychiatrist are available to provide prescription medication in conjunction with therapy.

How does a student make an appointment at UCC?

All appointments are made through the River Campus Office by calling 275-3113. Medical Center Satellite Office (1-5000 in the UHS Medical Center Office) and Eastman School of Music Office (Room 107, Student Living Center) offer limited appointments by calling (585) 275-3113.

What hours are available for counseling appointments?

The University Counseling Center is open from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm, Monday through Thursday and 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Friday during the academic year.

For appointments at The Medical Center and The Eastman School of Music Office, a UCC therapist is available for limited hours during the academic year. Services are usually limited in number and some students who are initially seen at these offices move to the River Campus location.

After-hours Emergency Services

Students who are in distress themselves or who are concerned about a friend can call the UCC after-hours emergency service. The Professional-on-call can be reached 24 hours/day throughout the year by calling (585) 275-3113.

What kinds of problems do college students usually have?

Students seek therapy for a variety of problems including anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, family problems, grief, school-related problems, and general discomfort about what’s happing in a person’s life.

What medical services are available on campus for my student?

The University Health Service (UHS) provides a full-range of confidential, high-quality primary health care services for full-time University of Rochester students.

The UHS clinical staff includes registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and physicians, all of whom have a special interest in the care and treatment of college students. For the convenience of students, UHS has medical offices in the Medical Center, on the River Campus, and at the Eastman School of Music. Students can schedule appointments at any UHS office. Whenever UHS offices are closed, a UHS physician is available by phone for urgent concerns.

My student has been seeing a therapist at home, how is this situation handled?

If your student has been working successfully with a therapist at home and wants to continue seeing this person, we encourage this if it’s practical (this usually means not too far away.)

Another option would be for that therapist to confer (after getting appropriate signed consent from the client) with a Counseling Center therapist about the specifics of the case and develop a plan to ensure your student will continue to receive needed services. This might mean the student seeing a counselor at UCC or maybe arranging to meet with a mental health provider in the local area for ongoing psychotherapy. This decision will depend on the specifics of the case, such as the diagnosis, kind(s) of treatment used, level of care required, prognosis for the future, etc.

My student told me he is seeing a counselor. Can I talk to this counselor?

Professional ethics as well as state law prohibit mental health providers from disclosing any information gained in the course of counseling or psychotherapy without a release of information signed by the client.

You are welcome to call the Counseling Center any time. However, please recognize that we are unable to provide any information about a student client without first having a signed release of information form from that client authorizing us to disclose such information. This includes not only information about what the person has discussed with a counselor but even whether someone has been seen in the Counseling Center.

We are able to listen to whatever information you wish to provide about your student and can advise you generally but not specifically, without a release of information form signed by the student it will necessarily be a one-sided conversation. On the other hand, if you’re concerned about your student’s welfare or they are talking about suicide, by all means take those kinds of statements seriously and contact us immediately.

I want my student to get help from the Counseling Center. How do I get them to go?

The Counseling Center staff often receives calls from parents who are concerned about their student and ask how they can convince him to get help. The direct approach of saying something like “I’m worried that you seem pretty down after breaking up with your girlfriend. Would you consider seeking help from the Counseling Center?” can work well. Sometimes the student may not even know that help is available or only needs a bit of encouragement from a parent. Hearing from a parent that it’s normal both to have problems and to seek help in overcoming these can also be helpful.

However, there’s really no way to force the student to seek help short of making threats. This option is usually counterproductive because even if the student gives in and makes an appointment, they are typically resentful and angry about being forced to so something they don’t want to do and counseling rarely works well under such circumstances.

Someone may be concerned that information disclosed in counseling will become part of their UR academic file or that others on campus will find out confidential information. If this is a concern, you can inform him that counseling information does NOT become part of a student’s academic records and that no information is released by our office without first having written authorization from that person.

Is it possible for someone from the Counseling Center to call my student and ask him to come in?

Sometimes a parent will call, explain that she is worried about the student, and ask if it’s possible for a Counseling Center staff member to contact their student and ask him to come in. The parent may or may not have already have suggested counseling to their student. If the idea of counseling has not been brought up by the parent, we ask that they first suggest this.

We do not contact the student to have them come in to the Counseling Center. We require the potential client to schedule his or her own appointment and we do not make appointments for third parties, i.e., a parent would not be able to make an appointment for a son or daughter.

However; if you have an urgent concern, please call us or call the Dean of Students or ResLife for us to discuss a way to support your student.