Frequently Asked Questions

We have a limited Dispensary, including allergy and asthma medications, some antibiotics, cough and cold medications, topical rash treatments, and nausea/vomiting medications. Over-the-counter acetaminophen/ibuprofen and cold medications are available for purchase without an appointment. 

Yes, Student Health Services provides condoms and offer contraceptive medications to prevent pregnancy. 

Yes, Student Health Services offers in-house urine pregnancy tests. Please contact Student Health Services for Details and Pricing.  

• Stockton Campus: We are located across the footbridge on the north side of campus in the Cowell Wellness Center (1041 Brookside Road). 
• Sacramento Campus: We are located in Halbert Hall (3257 Fifth Avenue).
• San Francisco Campus: We are located in the Wellness Center on the 5th Floor (room 513).

Yes, in most situations you will need to schedule an appointment to see a therapist. We do offer same day appointments on weekdays from 12:00pm - 4:00pm; to schedule a same day appointment, you can call our front desk (209.946.2315 x2) or walk in on the Stockton campus.

For an initial appointment, please call 209.946.2315 x2 or complete our appointment request form. If you are on the Stockton Campus, you can also stop by our front office in the Cowell Wellness Center.

For non-emergent initial appointments you will usually be seen between one and three weeks depending on your schedule and availability.

Our services are funded by the Wellness Fee; therefore, our services are free to you! We do not bill your health insurance for any of our services; however, if you receive a medication prescription from our psychiatrist, your insurance will be billed by the pharmacy.

Students who are registered for future semesters (e.g., accessing our services in the summer and are registered for fall, or accessing our services during winter break and are registered for spring) are still able to use our services (therapeutic counseling and psychiatric support) with no additional fees.

We are open when the university is open on all three campuses.

• Stockton Campus
  • In Person Appointments: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm
  • Virtual Appointments: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 6:00pm
• Sacramento Campus
  • In Person Appointments: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm
  • Virtual Appointments: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 6:00pm
• San Francisco Campus:
  • In Person Appointments: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday - 8:00am - 5:00pm
  • Virtual Appointments: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 6:00pm

We offer emergency therapy on a same-day basis as necessary, weekdays from 12:00pm - 4:00pm. We leave the decision of whether it is an emergency or not up to you.

To help you make this decision we'd like you to know the following information: An emergency appointment is a brief visit, similar to going to an emergency room. We meet with you as soon as we can on the same day you come in with the goal of stabilizing you in the moment.

The following are types of concerns typically addressed by Emergency Therapy Appointments:

1. Having a current plan to attempt suicide or inflict serious bodily harm on someone else.
2. Having had any of the following experiences in the last 7 days:

• Attempted suicide or made verbal or written threats to do so
• Inflicted or attempted to inflict serious bodily harm on yourself or on someone else
• Been physically and/or sexually assaulted
• Heard or seen things that do not exist
• Experienced uncontrollable despair, anxiety or anger
• Been unable to provide for your own food, clothing, and shelter
• Experienced the recent loss of a loved one

If it is after business hours, you can call 209.946.2315 x3 to speak with our after hours therapist.

If at any time you are in danger of hurting yourself or someone else, please call Public Safety immediately at 209.946.3911. Public Safety officers are trained to help students and want to help you in any way that they can.

If you are thinking of hurting yourself or someone else, please call our 24/7 therapeutic support line at 209.946.2315 x3.

CAPS does have same day appointment availability between 12:00pm and 4:00pm on all open business days. Please call 209.946.2315 x2 to get an appointment scheduled, or walk in to the Cowell Wellness Center on the Stockton campus.

Please call our 24/7 therapeutic support line at 209.946.2315 x3. This will connect you with a therapist who will speak with you about your concerns. This crisis therapist will let us know during the next business day that you have called, the nature of your call and if you would like a follow-up phone call.

If you are a parent, a faculty member, or a staff member who would like to speak to someone about a student of concern and it is during regular business hours please call our regular number (209.946.2315, extension 2) and ask to speak to an available CAPS Staff member about your concern. If it is after hours please call the same number (209.946.2315, extension 2) and leave a message. We will return your phone call within two business hours.

All members of our permanent staff (psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, and psychiatrist) have finished their degree programs. We also have two master's level clinicians on staff each year who are doctoral psychology interns. These clinicians come to us with considerable counseling experience, having finished all academic requirements for their doctoral programs from across the country. No undergraduate students work at CAPS.

Yes. Our therapists are trained to work with students from many cultures and backgrounds. We respect racial and cultural diversity.

Yes. Our therapists are trained to work with gay, lesbian, bisexual, gender variant, and questioning clients. Our therapists respect sexual and gender diversity and affirm gay, lesbian, bisexual, gender variant, and questioning individuals.

Most years, we see about one in eight undergraduate and graduate students.

We help students with a variety of problems, ranging from homesickness to severe mental illness. For example, we see students with symptoms of anxiety and / or depression, we see couples with relationship difficulties, we see individuals with mental illnesses such as Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder, and we see students who are adjusting to living away from home for the first time. These are all typical of the types of issues or concerns that we handle on a daily basis.

Yes. Since we try to serve as many students as possible, in most cases we limit the number of sessions you can be seen each year. The therapy we offer is intended to be short-term (i.e., up to 5 sessions a semester) in most cases. If you think you want or need longer term therapy, you will need to discuss your therapy needs with your therapist.

The records at Counseling and Psychological Services are totally separate from the rest of your records at Pacific. For the most part, the fact that you have come to CAPS and what you discussed here is confidential and will not be revealed to anyone outside of CAPS. However, there are rare exceptions. For example, if you tell us that a child or someone over the age of 65 is being abused, we have to report that to the appropriate agency. If you tell us that you plan to seriously hurt yourself or someone else, we may have to intervene to ensure everyone's safety. We also sometimes work in conjunction with medical staff at Pacific Health Services and / or with the Student Victim Advocate. These exceptions are detailed in the Informed Consent statement you will be given during your first appointment. Additionally, the therapist you see will answer any further questions you have about exceptions to confidentiality.

We will meet with any student for an initial assessment. There are circumstances in which the therapist determines that an individual's needs are beyond the scope of the services offered at CAPS. In these instances, we will offer a referral to other sources of help on or off campus.

CAPS has a part-time psychiatrist that is available 9 hours a week (Monday and Wednesday mornings, Tuesday afternoons) and works with students across our three campuses. Appointments to meet with our psychiatrist fill quickly, so we recommend scheduling an appointment as soon as possible in order to get your medication needs met.

Appointments can be scheduled by calling 209.946.2315 x2 or completing our appointment request form online.

Yes. We have therapists on staff who help students who have alcohol or drug related concerns. Often students also benefit from meeting with a CAPS therapist to discuss personal concerns that may relate to the substance use.

Here is information about specific drug and alcohol addictions: 

• http://www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/
• http://www.addictioncenter.com/alcohol/

There are also several local resources that you can turn to if you are concerned about your alcohol/drug use, such as AA or NA meetings, as well as rehabilitation facilities. Here are some that are close to each campus:

Stockton: 

• http://sober.com/aa-meetings/california/stockton/
• http://www.narcotics.com/na-meetings/california/stockton/
• http://www.addictions.com/rehabs/california/stockton/

San Francisco: 

• http://www.narcotics.com/na-meetings/california/san-francisco/
• http://www.addictions.com/rehabs/california/san-francisco/

Sacramento: 

• http://www.narcotics.com/na-meetings/california/sacramento/
• http://www.addictions.com/rehabs/california/sacramento/