Mental Health at CUMC

http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/student/health/mh/mhs.html

The Mental Health Service, a division of Student Health Service, offers confidential consultations, counseling, psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy for individuals and couples. We are available for support throughout your time at the Columbia University Medical Center.

We are staffed by psychologists and psychiatrists who are experienced in the issues that students face in the course of their professional training-for example:

• Normal developmental concerns that may be triggered by the intensity of the educational process
  
• Anxiety and panic symptoms
  
• Problems with mood:
  
  • Ordinary sadness, minor depression
  • Major depression (suicide prevention brochure available at the URL above)
  • Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
    
• Loss and grief
  
• Interpersonal difficulties-relationship problems and family issues
  
• Sexual and intimacy issues
  
• Social shyness
  
• Disordered eating and eating disorders
  
• Substance abuse-alcohol and other drugs

Appointments are scheduled promptly to accommodate academic, laboratory and work schedules. As part of your Student Health Service fee, you are entitled to 10 Mental Health Service visits annually without charge.

Download the Mental Health Service Brochure (available at the URL above)

If you or a friend have an immediate concern about suicide, call our SHS number at 212-305-3400 and request to speak with a Mental Health Clinician. You may also call the suicide hotline at 800-273-8255 or walk yourself or friend to the Emergency Room.

Decisions about the optimal course of treatment are a joint endeavor between the student, fellow, spouse or partner and the clinician-a process that begins with consultation and evaluation.

Treatments available in the Mental Health Service include brief dynamic psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, couples counseling, pharmacotherapy, and coordination of specific treatment interventions for a range of syndromes including eating disorders, drug and alcohol problems and other addictive behaviors.

Referrals are available for treatment beyond the 10-visit base benefit. These can be to an outside clinician or to the clinician you are already seeing. Again, this, as well as the timing of the referral, is a decision you will make jointly. As of August 17, Sixty (60) additional visits are covered by the Aetna Student Health Insurance Plan. There is a $20 co-pay per visit.

Please see your insurance brochure (available at the URL above) for detailed information about benefits to mental health clinicians both inside and outside the Aetna Insurance network.