Welcome

We are honored to support Amherst College students in whatever capacity best suits their needs. Learn more about our services, as broken down in the following sections:

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Rapid Access

Emergency Care

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, we are available immediately, 24/7. To speak to a mental health professional immediately, please call us at 413-542-2354 and let us know it is an emergency. We will see you immediately or as soon as possible. If you call after business hours, you can to speak with a crisis counselor by phone by call the same number, 413-542-2354. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 9-1-1 or ACPD (413-542-2111) for on-campus emergencies.

Urgent Care

If your concerns can wait a few hours, same-day urgent-care appointments are available most mornings and afternoons during business hours. Please call ahead to make an appointment and request urgent care.

Single Session Treatment (SST)

SST involves coming in for one therapy session with no commitment or expectation to return. SST gets students connected with one of our therapists quickly — usually the same or next day — to help solve a particular problem that is causing distress. SST appointments are available daily Monday-Friday and can be scheduled up to 48 hours in advance, depending on availability. 

To get a better idea of whether this could  be a good fit for you, learn more about single-session treatment.

Groups/Workshops

The Centers offers a number of identity-based groups, support groups, and skills-dvelopment classes that are availabel multiple times a day. Please find out more about our current listings. A lot of our current offerings are accessible with no pre-registration. Find out if a group that fits your needs is taking place today!

Consultation

Consultation is available to concerned faculty, staff, students, and parents seeking information regarding mental health or for advice in responding to others (e.g. friends, students, children) who might be having mental health difficulties. Vocational consultations are also available to students considering a career as a psychologist or social worker. To schedule a consultation, please call and request an appointment.

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Ongoing Support from the Center for Counseling and Mental Health

Individual Counseling

Individual counseling is available on a short-term, goal-oriented basis, and is typically bi-weekly. Our goal is to provide an open, supportive, and confidential environment for you to address the issues that are most important to you. These services are provided at no cost. If you have a specific focus that you would like to address, that's great! We encourage you to be open and candid with our counselors about your goals. One example of a focus of counseling could be gender and sexuality. Explore our website to learn more about our LGBTQ+ Affirming Care.  

Psychiatric Medication Management

Students can work with one of our licensed psychiatric providers to receive an evaluation to determine if medication might be an appropriate and beneficial part of their care. Appointments for ongoing management of psychiatric medication are available to all enrolled students at no cost. To access these services students must be referred by either an Amherst College Center for Counseling and Mental Health psychotherapist or an Amherst College Health Service provider.  Prescriptions can be filled at a local pharmacy of your choice or through the Keefe Health Center in partnership with UMass University Health Services. Any co-pays (costs of a medication that is not paid by the insurance company) depend on your insurance.

We acknowledge and support the fact that students may have chosen names that are different from legal names. Our psychiatric providers are required to submit student prescriptions for authorization under their legal name, and we have had prescriptions denied/unfilled by pharmacies when chosen names have been used. Additionally, using a chosen name on a prescription may result in a cost not being covered by student insurance, and the students may have to cover the cost themselves out of pocket. These requirements are outside the control of the counseling center. We understand this may be frustrating for students and encourage them to have a conversation with their prescriber to understand this issue more completely.

Therapy Groups

Are you curious to learn more about yourself? Do you believe that getting to understand relationships within a group context with other students could be helpful. You may benefit from one of our therapy groups. These groups require pre-registration, and typically occur over the course of the entire semester, meeting on a weekly basis with the same set of students each time. Some therapy groups have a specific focus while others are more about understanding how we interact in the world around us. Call us today to learn more about these groups.

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Off-Campus: Connecting You with Care Outside the College

The Center for Counseling and Mental Health is unable to see students for intensive therapy during their time at the college, however, we can help students access long-term care resources off-campus. Our Clinical Case Manager connects students and families to treatment and support resources outside of campus when that is more appropriate given the student’s needs. For example, we can help a student find a mental health therapist off-campus, locate specialized treatment (e.g. trauma, eating disorders, substance use, etc.), and help students access mental health resources in their home communities while they are away from campus.

Our Clinical Case Manager also partners with college staff to provide wrap-around care. Some of the offices we collaborate with include the Office of Student Affairs Case Management, Accessibility Services, Health Services, Class Deans, Title IX, and Residential Life. This kind of wrap-around care can help students attend to their well-being in holistic ways while they are on campus, and ensure a successful transition on those occasions when students consider taking a medical leave from the College.

To request a meeting with the Clinical Case Manager, please call our front office at 413-542-2354. 

Services Not Provided

There are a number of mental health services that we currently do not provide. Some of these include long-term counseling (as referenced above), counseling for alumnae/i of the College, ADHD or other psychological testing, and intensive care for substance use or eating disorders. Learn more about services not provided.

How to Make an Appointment

All enrolled students are eligible to receive counseling and psychiatry services from the Center for Counseling and Mental Health, including brief individual therapy, single-session counseling, groups, medication management, and urgent care.  

There are three ways to make an appointment:

  1. Call our front office at 413-542-2354 between 8:30 am-4:30 pm EST
  2. Self-schedule initial assessment appointments and single session appointments (not for students already connected to the center). You can do this in our appointment forms portal. This option is only available during the fall and spring semesters. To schedule an appointment during the breaks please call or email the center.
  3. Email ccmh@amherst.edu

Crisis and urgent care appointments are available same-day, and a first-time appointment for ongoing counseling can be scheduled within 1-2 weeks. After hours, you can leave a message for our office and we will get back to you the following business day. For all appointments, some online forms must be completed - you'll receive instructions for your online forms prior to your appointment. Please be sure to complete these forms before your appointment time.