GW is Better With You Here
GW Mental Health Resources
GW has many kinds of mental health resources available to students. Explore the options below to find which services best fit your needs!
If you are in crisis, call or text 988 to be connected with a crisis counselor.
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
- General Information
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CAPS offers individual and group counseling where students can join a brief, goal-oriented individual counseling session, or participate in a 60-90 minutes group session facilitated by a counselor; affinity Spaces/drop-in spaces for students who share common identities, backgrounds, and experiences; and workshops where counselors explore anxiety, depression, and cultural forces that impact your wellbeing while guiding you through building skills on these topics.
CAPS uses a stepped care model that offers a wide array of services that take into account the type of concern, research evidence on best practices, student personality and preferences, and readiness for making difficult changes or engaging in complex therapeutic processes. CAPS counselors provide a safe and non-judgmental environment for you to discuss these concerns and discover ways to resolve them. The number of short-term individual counseling sessions will be individualized, based on your needs.
At times, longer-term counseling or specialized treatment may be a better fit. If so, you will be referred to providers in the community who have experience working with college students.
- Cost
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Free of charge, regardless of the insurance you have!
- Location & Hours
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Foggy Bottom: University Student Center (Ground Floor)
- Monday, Thurs, Friday | 8:30 am - 5 pm
- Tuesday, Wednesday | 8:30 am - 7 pm
- Saturday | 12 - 4 pm
- CAPS Same Day Hours | Mon-Sat | 12 - 4 pm
Mount Vernon Campus: Merriweather Hall
- Tuesday | 10 am - 4 pm
- CAPS Same Day Hours | Tuesday | 12 - 4 pm
- Contact Information
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CAPS Phone Number: (202)-994-5300
If you are in crisis, or concerned about a GW student in crisis, please call the 24/7 number at (202) 994-5300 (option 3) to speak with a counselor.
Student Health Center Psychiatric Services
- General Information
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The Student Health Center (SHC) provides short-term psychiatric treatment and referral services to GW students. Services are provided primarily by telemedicine. Undergraduate, graduate, and professional students who are actively enrolled in at least one course are eligible for psychiatric services. The psychiatrists and counselors in the SHC work closely together to provide mental health services for students. The initial appointment will be for 90 minutes. Please start the check-in process 30 minutes prior to your appointment time because you will be required to complete the symptom surveys. After the surveys are completed and reviewed by your psychiatrist, the psychiatrist will meet with you for up to 90 minutes. Students who need prescription refills will need to make an appointment with a SHC psychiatrist before refills will be written.
- Cost
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Psychiatric Diagnostic Interview Examination - $80 per visit
Medical Evaluation and Management (Therapy) - $50 per visit
*All students enrolled on the Aetna Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) are exempt from fees, except in the case of missed appointments or late cancelations.
- Location & Hours
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University Student Center Ground Floor 800 21st Street, NW Washington, DC 20052
Psychiatrists are only available by appointment during normal operating hours.
Monday, Thurs, Friday | 8:30 am - 5 pm
Tuesday, Wednesday | 8:30 am - 7 pm
- Contact Information
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To book a psychiatric appointment, please call the case manager at (202) 994-1621.
Website: Psychiatric Services
TimelyCare
- General Information
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TimelyCare is a virtual health and well-being platform available 24/7 for George Washington University students.
Services offered:
- Medical Now: On-demand support for common health issues, including cold, flu, and allergies.
- TalkNow: 24/7, on-demand emotional support to talk about anything, including anxiety, relationships, depression, and school-related stressors.
- Scheduled Medical: Choose the day, time, and medical provider that best works for you.
- Scheduled Counseling: Choose the day, time, and mental health provider that works best for you (9 visits per year).
- Health Coaching: Develop healthy lifestyle behaviors for nutrition, sleep habits, time management, and mindfulness.
- Psychiatry: Appointments are available through referrals from a GW SHC provider.
- Self-Care Content: Visit the Self-Care tab for 24/7 access to tools and resources, such as meditation and yoga sessions, helpful videos, and short articles from experts.
- Cost
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There is no cost to enrolled George Washington University students. With TimelyCare, you will have free, 24/7 access to providers from anywhere in the United States, regardless of your insurance status. So, you’ll never have to spend time or money on care, whether you’re on or off campus.
- Hours
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TimelyCare is available 24/7!
- Website
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Visit the website or download the TimelyCare app to access care.
The Meltzer Center
- General Information
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The Meltzer Center provides a wide variety of low-cost mental health services to adults, children, families and couples in the Washington, D.C., area. The Meltzer Center is a training clinic for students in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. Doctoral student clinicians are supervised by adjunct and full-time members of the clinical psychology faculty, all of whom are licensed clinical psychologists. The center’s therapists and supervisors represent a range of skills and interests, and whenever possible will be matched to meet a client’s needs.
- Services Offered
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Assessment: Intellectual, psycho-educational or comprehensive (psycho-educational and personality) assessments for a variety of client needs, including evaluations for diagnostic purposes.
Admissions Testing: In-person reduced-fee admissions testing services for families in need applying to independent and parochial schools in the DC metro area.
Child and Adolescent Therapy: Services target difficulties such as depression, anxiety, grief, disruptive behaviors, acting-out behaviors, school and peer-related problems and self-esteem and identity issues. Serve children and adolescents adjusting to life stressors such as divorce, adoption, single-parent family and remarriage.
Adult Therapy: Services target difficulties such as depression, anxiety, relationship problems, bereavement, social interaction difficulties, ethnic and cultural concerns, self-doubt and poor self-esteem, career problems and sexual identity and orientation concerns. Psychological services are also provided for adjustment problems that arise after divorce, relocation, job loss and other traumatic experiences.
- Costs
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Fees are based on a sliding fee schedule and are scaled according to your family income and number of dependents. Payment can be made in the electronic payment system. The Meltzer Center does not bill insurance, but can provide you a receipt to submit for possible reimbursement. Alternative payment options can be discussed upon inquiry. If you experience financial difficulties and have trouble paying your balance, please notify your clinician as soon as possible so that we can discuss a payment plan.
*Please note that you must pay a non-refundable deposit fee to be added to our waitlist for services ($25 for Assessment/$10 for Therapy). And that the center is not able to provide medications or any form of medical care and does not take insurance.
- Location and Contact Information
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GWU Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences: 2013 H St. NW, 4th Floor Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202-994-6320
Email: [email protected]
GW Art Therapy Clinic
- General Information
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The GW Art Therapy Clinic is a training facility partnered with the GW Graduate Art Therapy Program providing confidential, quality art therapy services to children, teens and adults from the community. Our clinicians are students in their second and third year of the master’s program and are supervised by licensed, professional art therapists and mental health counselors. A typical art therapy session lasts 45–50 minutes, although occasionally the clinician may find extended sessions to be helpful. Most clients are seen in weekly 1:1 individual therapy sessions with a consistent student therapist throughout the academic year. The GWATC also offers group and family art therapy as needed.
- Costs
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A fee-for-service clinic, meaning that you are responsible for payment in full at each session. Since they do not officially diagnose clients, they are unable to provide you with a statement or bill for your sessions, and they do not work with any insurance companies. Payments can be made by cash or via electronic portal. Fees for sessions are determined on a case by case basis, and are based on client need. This sliding scale allows them to cover the costs of materials and running the Clinic, while still providing affordable care.
Fees range from $10 to $75, depending on income and other circumstances. At the initial intake session, they will ask you to determine what you feel you are reasonably able to pay to maintain consistent services.
- Location and Costs
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Location:
413 John Carlyle St.
Alexandria, VA 22314Phone: 202-994-2420
Email: [email protected]
Contact the email to set up a free intake meeting. In the initial screening, you will meet with the graduate student(s) and/or director to review your history and reasons for pursuing art therapy.
GW CARE Team
- What is CARE?
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Students, parents, faculty, and staff can identify students that may need additional support through the CARE Team’s online form. The CARE Team is a cross-departmental support system that recognizes that student concerns are often multi-faceted. Students are connected to resources through inter-departmental collaboration to provide them with appropriate and personalized outreach. The Behavioral Intervention (BIT) is a multi-disciplinary group at George Washington University that is overseen by CARE.
This team meets regularly to coordinate timely interventions for students who might need help across multiple departments of the university. The BIT strives to prevent the occurrence of crisis situations on campus and to maintain the welfare of the campus community through individualized support to identified students in need. BIT includes the representatives from: Campus Living and Residential Education Disability Support Services GW Emergency Services Office of the General Counsel Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities Office for Student Success Student Support Team The reporting individual is not required to provide any identifying information in the report. The CARE process is not a disciplinary process, it aims to improve student well-being.
- Costs
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No Costs!
- Location and Contact Information
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University Student Center Ground Floor (next to the SHC)
800 21st Street, NW Washington, DC 20052
Reports are monitored Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 am and 6:00 pm.
The Center Clinic
- General Information
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The Center Clinic is a community mental health center housed within the George Washington University’s Professional Psychology Program. The nonprofit clinic is staffed by clinical externs who are advanced doctoral students in the Professional Psychology Program. Externs are supervised by licensed, highly experienced professionals. Provides short-term and long-term mental health services to patients in the Washington, D.C., area who may not otherwise have access to needed care. Offers a variety of treatment options, with specialties in psychotherapy and comprehensive psychological evaluations with children and adults. The clinic also provides consultation, assessment and therapeutic services free of charge to local community service agencies, such as public and charter schools, homeless shelters and addiction recovery programs.
- Costs
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Affordable, reduced fee on a sliding scale based on income. Additional fee reductions are considered for individuals in multiple treatments (for example, individual and group therapy) or whose treatment recommendations include attending sessions more than one time per week.
We do not accept insurance. The fee per session provided by the Center Clinic is typically lower than many insurance co-pays. Some patients, however, may arrange to submit claims to their insurance providers in order to seek some reimbursement. As insurance providers vary in what they will provide coverage for, please contact your provider for more information.
- Location and Contact Information
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Monday–Thursday: 8 a.m.–8 p.m.
Friday: 8 a.m.–4 p.m.
The Center Clinic 1922 F St. NW Suite 103 Washington, DC 20052
Phone: 202-994‐4937
Mental Health Student Groups
- Capital Peers
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The vision for the Capital Peers is to be a preeminent group of student leaders who influence and inspire GW students to prioritize health and wellness within themselves and the GW student community. GW Capital Peers are a diverse group of students whose mission is to educate, promote, and inspire GW students to live healthy lives. Through education and outreach on various college student health topics, Capital Peers equip their peers to practice healthy living to help them achieve success in college.
- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Student Group
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AFSP GW’s goal is to bring together members of GW’s community who share a similar desire to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide. This organization will serve to educate members of the GW community on suicide prevention and awareness, and to build an enduring culture on campus that is conscientious of mental health. AFSP GW will also work to give those affected by suicide a community empowered by research, education and advocacy to take action against this leading cause of death. AFSP GW will work closely with the AFSP National Capital Area Chapter to foster community engagement and involvement in events around the D.C. area.
- Active Minds
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Active Minds GW is a student organization dedicated to fighting mental health stigma through awareness and increasing accessibility for self-care and mental health services for students! Our activities and initiatives look to spread happiness throughout campus. We serve as an advocate for mental health issues that may affect the lives of college students. We empower and support students in times of need and create an anchor for those who feel as if they have nowhere else to turn to. We are an all-inclusive organization open to any student who wants to make a difference in the overall atmosphere of GW.