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University Counseling Center

Urgent Care Counseling

Urgent Care Counseling at the UCC provides therapeutic support for students in immediate crisis.

WHAT IS A CRISIS?

Typical urgent care situations can include, but are not limited to the following:

  • acute symptoms of depression, anxiety, panic, trauma, suicidal ideation
  • death of a family member or friend
  • recent traumatic event
  • extreme difficulty navigating stressors, such a break-up, roommate conflict, or poor academic performance
  • urgent concern for a friend or family member

ACADEMIC YEAR HOURS

Urgent Care Counseling hours during the academic year are:

Monday through Friday: 10am – 4pm.

During this time, students can come directly to the University Counseling Center (UCC) for in-person support OR by calling (615) 322-2571 to request a virtual zoom session with an urgent care provider (for virtual zoom appointments, students must be located in the state of Tennessee).

WHAT IF IT’S AFTER HOURS?

For students who are experiencing an urgent psychological crisis outside of the Urgent Care Counseling hours:

  1. Call the UCC at (615) 322-2571 and speak with a counselor on call (press option #1).
  2. Go to the Psychiatric Assessment Services at the Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital (M-F, 8am – 11pm and Sat-Sun 8am – 8pm), or the nearest Emergency Room for acute assessment and support.
  3. Crisis Resources

 

Providers will:

  • Focus on the immediate needs and assess for safety
  • Provide strategies to utilize to cope with the immediate needs
  • Plan for next steps, which may include referrals

A few things to be aware of:

  • Students will be seen in order of arrival and based on level of need.
  • During especially busy times, a student may be asked to wait while the clinician attends to other students. Be aware that intermittently there may be a significant wait time for Urgent Care Counseling.
  • To protect the ability of UCC staff to attend to all students in need of immediate counseling, appointments may be limited to 20-30 minutes.
  • Urgent Care providers do not write letters for nor implement accommodations, nor do they write letters of support for academic forgiveness.

FREQUENT NEED FOR URGENT CARE COUNSELING OFTEN INDICATES THE NEED FOR A HIGHER LEVEL OF CARE BEYOND THE SCOPE OF PRACTICE AT THE UCC. IN THESE SITUATIONS, THE UCC AND/OR STUDENT CARE COORDINATION WILL CONNECT THE STUDENT WITH ADDITIONAL RESOURCES.

 

This page was last updated July 2023