Making an Appointment is Easy!

There are several ways to schedule an appointment with a professional mental health clinician at the Counseling Center:

1. Call the Counseling Center at 951-827-5531 and ask to make an "intake appointment." The receptionist will assist you in finding the first available appointment that fits your schedule. Normal business hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2. Schedule an appointment in person at the Counseling Center, during normal business hours. The Counseling Center is located in Veitch Student Center, North Wing, in the same u-shaped building as the Campus Health Center and Career Center. If your situation is an emergency or crisis, you may request to see the on-call clinician immediately.

3. After hours, you may speak to an on-call therapist 24 hours by phone by calling 951-827-5531. Should you need to schedule a follow-up appointment, you will need to call or walk into the Counseling Center during normal business hours.

Arrive Early

In order to allow time to fill out the required demographic questionnaire, we ask that you arrive 30 minutes prior to your scheduled intake time. Forms take about 30 minutes to complete. Forms must be completed before you speak with a clinician. If you do not allow adequate time to complete the forms, the time you have to speak with the clinician may be reduced or you may need to re-schedule your appointment. If you are more than 15 minutes late, your appointment may need to be rescheduled.

During Your Intake Appointment

You will meet with a clinician to discuss your personal concerns and counseling services or other recommendations that may be helpful. The initial intake appointment is for information gathering rather than a therapy session and will last 45 minutes.

After Your Intake Appointment

You and the intake clinician will decide what services will be most helpful to you, as well as determining your course of treatment. These services may include individual, couples, or group therapy at the Counseling Center; a referral to the Counseling Center's Biofeedback program; a referral to the UC Riverside Health Center; a referral to other campus and community resource; and/or a referral to work with an off-campus clinician, based upon specific needs.

Should you and the clinician determine the UCR Counseling Center to be the best place for you to continue treatment, you will then be assigned a clinician (who may or may not be the clinician with whom you completed your intake appointment).

Helpful Information

• Services Information Sheet (pdf)
  This fact sheet contains information about the Counseling Center, its services and what you should expect.
• What to Expect from Counseling
  Brief introduction describing the counseling process
• Group Services Brochure and Current Groups Listing
  Contains detailed description of typical and current groups offered at the Counseling Center, as well as information on how to join groups.
• Confidentiality
  Explanation of Confidentiality and its limits.