Services and Appointments
At this time, all services are being provided as telehealth via confidential Zoom technology; for students who come in-person for urgent consultations, a Zoom room is available in our office.
Scheduling an Appointment
All counseling appointments in CHW are free. Students should call 617-573-8226 to schedule all appointments. First visits are 30-minute telehealth consultation appointments which can be scheduled ahead of time. Students with an immediate need to see a counselor may call to arrange an urgent telehealth consultation or come in-person to CHW between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. each weekday.
Please make every effort to complete your paperwork starting 15 minutes prior to your first appointment and to be on time for all appointments, as scheduled. This ensures that you will have enough time in the appointment to talk through all of your concerns. Calling in advance if you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment is appreciated.
All calls received, for any reason, after business hours will be managed by the on-call answering service. Messages received are checked on a regular basis by staff members and will be responded to as soon as possible and no later than the next business day. If you are calling after hours in the event of an emergency or urgent matter a clinician will administer a brief psychological assessment and will work with you to determine appropriate treatment options based on the nature of the call.
Please note: CHW counseling providers are licensed to provide services within Massachusetts only. Students studying remotely outside of Massachusetts due to COVID-19 may schedule a consultation appointment with a CHW counselor who will assist in identifying immediate concerns and support for finding a referral in your local area.
Individual Counseling
Counseling services provides short-term individual counseling to students. After an initial consultation, students whose needs are appropriate for short-term treatment are referred to a CHW counseling staff member. Our average number of sessions is 4, although some students benefit from fewer sessions and others from additional sessions. We work to understand and meet each student’s unique needs.
Although many concerns can be addressed in short-term treatment, it is also not uncommon for students to need longer-term or specialized services. After discussion with a counselor, students who need specialized or longer-term counseling are referred to our case manager who can assist with referrals to community resources and providers.
Group Counseling & Workshops
Group counseling is an effective and powerful way students connect with each other around shared feelings and experiences, learn new coping skills, and engage in healthy communication and relationship skills. Groups are confidential and ongoing throughout the year. Students may join drop-in groups or workshops anytime or may be referred to counseling groups after an initial consultation with a counseling staff member. Students may continue to use CHW groups for as long as desired.
Referrals to Community Providers
CHW provides extensive referral assistance to students whose needs are best met by community providers—taking into account factors such as health insurance, geographic, transportation, financial limits, and either clinical specialty or provider sociocultural identity. The Boston area has extensive community resources to meet the wide variety of student mental health needs. Students interested in longer-term counseling may schedule directly with the CHW case manager by calling 617-573-8226 or learn how to access community providers on their own.
Medication Management
Following an initial consultation, students may be referred to the CHW psychiatric nurse practitioner for assessment of their medication needs and development of an appropriate treatment plan. CHW does not prescribe stimulants or benzodiazepines; students with prescription needs for these medications will be referred to off-campus providers. The cost of medication is billed to the student's health insurance by the pharmacy, or students may choose to self-pay. Appointments with the psychiatric nurse practitioner are available only through referral from a counseling staff member. Please schedule an initial consultation if you if you are interested in medication services.
Outreach & Consultation
Counseling staff provide training and workshops on a variety of issues relating student mental health to student groups, faculty or classroom presentations, and to University staff working with students. To request a CHW presentation, please fill out a Program Request Form.
Counseling staff also provide consultation to Suffolk staff and faculty regarding student mental health. To request consultation, please contact one of our providers or the CHW Interim Director.