Students start the appointment process by signing into the Client Portal with their single sign on (SSO.)
The link is below.
Like any healthcare facility, there will be some paperwork to complete first.
Once the paperwork is completed, students will be sent a notification for a very brief assessment to help triage their initial appointment.
Then a staff member will contact them to schedule their intake (new client) appointment.
Here's the link to get started! Client Portal
If you are in a mental health crisis during this time period and need immediate attention, please call the 24 Crisis Line: 988
There are university support systems that may reach out to a student if you are concerned and unable to convince the student to seek out services on their own.
The Student Accommodations and Support Services (SASS) team can assist students with a wide variety of issues and challenges. This can include significant health issues that have impacted studies, a death in the family, a serious medical issue, etc.
In some situations, the SASS team can reach out to a student.
Students can connect with a member of the SASS team by filling out this form: Student Intake Form
If you are a concerned faculty, staff, or community member, you can alert the SASS team about a student by clicking here: iCare
The EWU SASS Team has created a crisis check list that can be accessed here: Crisis Check List
However, if a student is an immediate risk to self or others, please call 911.
Counseling services are available to EWU students who are:
- Currently registered and taking 6 or more credits AND
- Currently living within 50 miles of the Cheney or Spokane campus (in WA state)
Registered students who do not meet the requirements above are only able to access referral services.
While CWS is offering telehealth services (appt on zoom), students must be located in Washington State during the therapy session per state regulations. If you are currently residing outside of the state, a CWS staff member may be able to offer referrals for your area.
A private space for students to have their telehealth (zoom) appointments is available on the Cheney campus in 225 Martin Hall. Students are welcome to bring their own laptops or they are welcome to use the Chromebox, monitor, & web camera in the room. Please call (509) 359-2366 for availability.
Faculty/staff and parents can request a consultation with a counselor to discuss student concerns.
Counseling and Wellness services is funded by fees associated with tuition. There is no additional out of pocket cost to registered EWU students.
Please note that our individual counseling services, group counseling services, and biofeedback services are not available to students taking fewer than six credits or to students in online degree only programs.
Counseling and Wellness Services does not provide ESA letters or documentation. Your primary care provider may be able to help you. Your insurance provider may also be able to provide you with referrals.
A combination of in-person and telehealth (zoom) appointments are available. For students needing a private space for their telehealth appointments, the Counseling Center in 225 Martin has a Zoom Room available. Students may bring in their own laptops, but they are also free to use the set-up provided (a Chromebox and monitor.)
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call the Crisis Line at 988.
If you or someone you know are at imminent risk of serious injury or death, please call 911.
Otherwise, there are some other options.
TalkCampus is a free, peer-to-peer app for mental health support. Click on the link to find out where to download: TalkCampus
The Washington Warm Line is available Monday to Sunday from 12:30 pm to 9 pm. It is a is a peer support help line for people living with emotional and mental health challenges. Calls are answered by specially-trained volunteers who have lived experience with mental health challenges. 1-877-500-WARM (9276)
There is also the Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 from anywhere in the US. A live, trained Crisis Counselor receives the text and responds, all from a secure online platform.
Here is a guided meditation for panic attacks and anxiety: Guided Imagery for Panic Attacks
Like most university counseling centers, EWU ongoing counseling services are offered on a short-term basis. This typically consists of 1 to 6 sessions.
This standard is also the session limit for EWU students per year.
Please note that a no show appointment will count towards your session limit.
There is no session limit to group counseling appointments, and Biofeedback appointments do not count towards the session limit.
Even if a student has reached their session limit, crisis walk-in hours are still available.
Students who need or desire longer term therapy can be provided with resources to help find a community counselor. CWS has a community referral specialist on staff.
Because the needs and situations of students will be different, some students may receive fewer counseling sessions than their peers.
Like other healthcare centers, appointments at Counseling and Wellness Services must be initiated and made by the student seeking services. Please see the above question, "I'm concerned about a student/friend/roommate. What resources are there?"
Providing supporting documentation is a service that best occurs within the context of an ongoing therapeutic relationship.
If you have never been seen at the counseling center, or if your engagement with the center has been very limited, it is unlikely that we will be able to provide you with a letter of support. While our counselors remain supportive of students' academic efforts, they generally cannot confirm difficulties or issues about which they have no prior information or knowledge.
However, there are times such letters can be written. It will depend upon the nature of the letter you are requesting, the time frame of which it's requested, the concerns relevant to the letter, the degree to which a student has been engaged with the counseling center, and the counselor's professional judgement.
For information about Exceptional Circumstances Withdrawal and Financial Aid Appeals, Records & Registration has useful information regarding documentation:
Exceptional Circumstances Withdrawal
Please be sure to check in with the Financial Aid Office and CAAR if you are considering an Exceptional Circumstances Withdrawal.
Examples of appeal documentation are also listed on the FA Webpage.
If you are considering withdrawing from one or more classes or planning an appeal, it may be helpful to first talk with the Center for Academic Advising & Retention (CAAR) and the Financial Aid & Scholarships Office about any potential decisions, options, and expected outcomes.
Some students are not best served by short term counseling. Those students may get directed to our case manager for an outside referral.
This typically happens during the intake appointment.
Here are a few reasons why a student may not be suited for our counseling center's short term model of counseling:
- The student may already have a mental health provider.
- The student is seeking psychological assessment testing: for example, ADHD, learning disability, or other type of disability assessment evaluation. Our office is unable to provide that testing.
- A student may have court-ordered counseling.
- A student may have a mental health condition that requires ongoing, long-term care.
- A student who needs or wants to be seen more than 1 to 4 times a month.
- A student who requires close monitoring with psychiatric services.
Scope of Care
Scope of Care: A scope of scare is a statement that lets you know what the staff at a healthcare facility are able to do. The healthcare staff - the mental health counselors - have state rules and professional guidelines they must follow.
The scope of care outlines what should are considered practices, what follows state law and what adheres to state board rules.
If you have any questions about the scope of care, please contact Counseling & Wellness Services at 509.359.2366 or by email, at cws@ewu.edu.
CWS is able to meet a range of needs presented by many of our students, including a variety of mental health, well-being, and recovery services. We also manage the Food Pantry on campus.
The scope of care focuses on the mental health services provided by CWS.
Our individual counseling services are based on a short-term intervention model. This is a solution focused practice that helps students build skills to address their current concersn and gain effective tools for future situations and foster resilience. This assists students with their ability to attend college and pursue their academic, career, and personal goals.
Short-term means six sessions per student per year for individual counseling. The same limit does not apply to group or biofeedback services.
Sometimes students need a more intensive level of care and sometimes other reasons exist that limit CWS's ability to meet the needs of it clients. CWS will assist students with finding a referral to a community provider.
Here are some situations that could require a referral to a community provider:
- The student does not pay the Health & Wellness fee and is not eligible for CWS counseling services. This includes online degree students and students taking less than six credits.
- A need or a request for ongoing individual therapy beyond the six session per year limit.
- Court mandated counseling
- Custody evaluations
- Testing assessment (neuropsychological evaluations)
- Requests for emotional support animal letters
- Return to Work Assessments
For some students, the best plan is finding a higher level of care, including but not limited to, intensive outpatient treatment. Some situations that may require this level of care might include:
- Alcohol and/or other drug addiction(s) that goes beyond the level of care a college counseling center could reasonably provide.
- An active eating disorder requiring extensive medical monitoring or significant and/or chronic disordered eating symptoms posing medical danger
- A history of multiple hospitalizations, chronic suicidiality and/or self-injury behaviors; history of repeated suicide attempts
This scope of care statement is meant to be a general guide to our clinic's practices and guidelines.
Again, we encourage to contact our office if you have any questions or concerns.
Many students interested in Counseling & Wellness Services (CWS) are worried about confidentiality and how private their appointments are.
Confidentiality is a highly valued part of the therapy process that is taken seriously by the counselors at CWS. Additionally, there are state laws and licensing board rules regulating counselors over their duties towards clients in regards to confidentiality.
Without a written release from a student, CWS cannot even verify if a student is or isn't a client. A student's counseling records are not part of their academic record.
A student's parent(s) or guardian(s) may not access the counseling records without express written consent by the student.
There are atypical situation when counselors are legally required to disclose certain information. For example, when there is the possibility of harm to the client or to another person, in cases of child or elder abuse, or if there is a court order like a subpoena.
Your counselor will go over these uncommon exceptions during your first appointment.
Both mental health counseling and well-being appointments are available in-person and telehealth by Zoom.
For mental health counseling appointments, you will need to fill out a form giving the counselor permission to do telehealth and you will need to be in state (with some very limited exceptions.)
If you need a private space and equipment to do your video appointment, the office in 225 Martin that is available and set up for students. Students are welcome to bring their own laptops, but it is not necessary. The office has a Chromebox and webcam already.
Please check ahead of time for availability at 509.359.2366 or at cws@ewu.edu.
