While CAPS offers an array of mental health services to the Bates student body, there are times when a student’s needs extend beyond the scope of services CAPS can provide.   CAPS reserves the right to refer in the following situations:

• Students who require more than once weekly individual therapy for an extended period of time.
• Students who have had extensive treatment in the past and need/expect extensive long-term additional treatment.
• Students who require excessive utilization of crisis intervention.
• Students who present a chronic, ongoing risk of harm to self or others, and whose symptoms do not respond to outpatient intervention or require specialized services.  This includes students with a history of multiple hospitalizations, chronic suicidality, homicidality, and/or a history of repeated suicide attempts.
• Students presenting with a concern or disorder, that requires expertise or resources, not sufficiently available at CAPS.  Examples may include, but not limited to, mandated or court-ordered assessment and treatment, forensic assessments, and extensive treatment for eating disorders.
• Students who are unable to maintain prolonged periods without treatment (i.e. academic breaks).
• Students who are non-compliant with treatment, as defined by excessive no-shows, repeated stops and starts to counseling, and/or repeated requests to change providers.
• Students who demonstrate harassing, menacing, threatening, or violent threats or behaviors toward a member of the CAPS team.
• CAPS staff are available for a 1x only consultation session for Bates students when they are physically outside the state of Maine for brief consultation, case management, and support/transition of care appointments via telehealth only.  Due to mental health professional licensing restrictions, CAPS clinicians are not able to offer therapy sessions to Bates students outside the state of Maine.

Professional staff often act as consultants in crisis situations, and in making appropriate referrals to other agencies. For example, students, parents, or faculty/staff may consult with a CAPS professional regarding concerns about a Bates student. Such consultations are available by appointment and can be done in-person or via telehealth. CAPS staff regularly serve as consultants to Residence Life and other Student Affairs offices. To request consultation, email us.

CAPS strives to be responsive to students’ needs in a timely manner.  Typically, our services are offered on an appointment basis.  However, we are aware that emergencies requiring immediate attention can exist for students and our same-day services are designed to assist these students during our normal business hours, Monday through Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.  Examples of emergency situations include:

• You are currently so distressed that you may be unable to keep yourself or others safe.
• You have a current plan to attempt suicide or to harm someone else.
• You have recently been physically or sexually assaulted.
• Someone close to you has died recently.
• You are having strange experiences such as hearing voices or seeing things that others do not.
• You have knowledge of another person being abused or assaulted.
• You have had a severe reaction to a psychiatric medication.
• You have witnessed a traumatic event within the last few days.
• You have been unable to attend classes because of severe depression or anxiety.

If you have an urgent concern and need to speak to a counselor after normal business hours, call 207-786-6200 and press “0” to reach ProtoCall

We have a 24/7 mental health hotline called ProtoCall, which is available to Bates students during the academic year. This service is staffed by mental health professionals who have been trained to work with Bates students. Bates CAPS clinicians provide back-up support to ProtoCall Services.

If you are in crisis, you can also CALL 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

National Crisis Text Line – Text HOME to 741741
Maine Crisis Hotline: 1-888-568-1112 
Text Support for BIPOC students: Text “STEVE” to 741741
Text Support for LGBTQ students: Text “START” to 678-678

We’re excited to offer an array of therapy groups. See current offerings here. Groups are an often overlooked and critical arm of college counseling centers due to the simple fact that therapy groups offer high levels of peer support, interpersonal learning, and connection with others in a supportive and confidential setting.

Counseling & Psychological Services offers short-term individual counseling for any Bates student who wants to explore personal concerns one-to-one with a licensed therapist. Concerns vary from coping with the challenges of college life to more severe emotional and interpersonal problems. A variety of therapeutic approaches may be used to help students identify and understand the source(s) of their difficulties. Such insights may then be translated into plans for action and change. For frequently asked questions about individual counseling, click here.

If already on medication, we highly recommend that students maintain relationships with their current providers, being seen on school breaks as possible. As we are a short-term service, including for psychiatry, we will at some point be referring you to community resources.

Maine-licensed providers can be found through your insurance or online telehealth platforms such as Talkiatry. We encourage you to speak with your current providers about your treatment needs as soon as possible to provide ample time to transition care.

If a need for medication emerges while at Bates, students first meet with a member of the counseling staff for an initial assessment and referral. This referral could include community providers, telehealth providers, Bates Health Services, or a CAPS consulting psychiatrist.

Students who are being seen by a CAPS consulting psychiatrist for medication services will generally meet periodically with a CAPS counselor as well for best practice. Appointments for medication will be prioritized for Bates students currently under the care of CAPS due to capacity limits. Once stabilized, students may be referred out for continuity of care with other providers and to create equity for other students seeking these services at Bates.

Students being seen by external therapists are encouraged to request psychiatric referrals from their therapists directly and/or to utilize their existing network through their health insurance.

We do not see students just for stimulant prescriptions and do not do ADHD assessments or assess learning disabilities.  We can try to help you find providers in the area that do, or you can contact the Office of Accessible Education for referrals as well.

CAPS staff can work with students to find and help facilitate referral to specialized or intensive treatment off campus or refer students to mental health providers off campus as requested and/or necessary. Click here for more resources, including our tailored referral platform, Thriving Campus.

In our efforts to provide quicker access to services for students who need support with a specific issue and not necessarily ongoing therapy, we offer a same-day consultation with one of our clinicians. These appointments can help problem solve a specific concern (e.g., advice on roommate or relationship conflict, how to best manage stress, coping skills regarding anxiety, help making a decision) and are designed to be goal-oriented so that you can leave with a set of next steps. If a student wants/needs a follow-up in the future, they can call and request another one-time, same-day consultation or can discuss the potential for a pre-scheduled appointment with the clinician. Appointments are only scheduled for the same day and are first-come, first-served. These are not drop-in appointments.

CAPS offers developmental and prevention programming through workshops and outreach presentations to the Bates Community. Please call or email us to talk with us about an outreach or workshop request.