Counseling Center

Counseling Services

Counseling services are free, confidential, and available to all currently enrolled USF students. Counseling can cover a wide range of topics, which might include:  

  • Transitioning to college
  • Healthy relationships
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Stress Management
  • Self-esteem
  • Grief and Loss
  • Managing Unhealthy Habits

The Counseling Center uses a continuum of care model to deliver comprehensive mental health and wellness services to all currently enrolled USF students. The Counseling Center offers a variety of options that vary in both client self-direction and treatment intensity so we can customize services to each student’s personal needs, goals, preferences, and availability. Additionally, regular monitoring of outcomes allows us to provide flexibility in providing services to best fit the unique circumstances of each student. Learn more about our services and the various options available to students below: 

Counseling Services Chart

Self-Driven Support & Psychoeducation 

This service offers the greatest opportunity for clients to exercise independence and to use their existing strengths, skills, and resilience to tackle the concerns they face. We have access to many digital, on-campus, and community resources that offer education and support to students as they leverage those existing capabilities to pursue personal goals.  
Ideal for students who:

  • Are seeking resources to gain support
  • Want to learn more about mental wellness and coping strategies
  • Are naturally interested in self-actualization, growth or personal development
  • Examples of services include:
    • TAO Self-Help
    • TogetherAll
    • Apps
    • Drop-In Wellness Workshops
    • Connecting with the Health and Wellness Coordinator to learn more about on and off-campus resources

Solutions-Focused Sessions 

This service offers clients support through goal-oriented, single session consultations with a counselor. Issues addressed during these consultations can typically be resolved in one session and clients are often provided with resources for use outside of the session to enhance wellness.

Ideal for students who:

  • Are seeking short-term support in working through a specific issue/situation
  • Want to learn more about coping skills and mental wellness in a 1:1 setting

More about accessing this include:

  • Single-session consultations are offered on a drop-in, first-come first-served basis most days.

  • Check-in at the front desk in the Main Rotunda and let them know you’d like a drop-in consultation with a counselor. You will be supported in completing the necessary paperwork, and be seen by a counselor. 

Guided Treatment 

This allows students to engage in ongoing counseling to help develop new insights, perspectives, and behaviors that can be especially helpful when students struggle with more long-term issues.  

Ideal for students who:

  • Are noticing mental health problems are getting in the way of day-to-day life or wellness
  • Have noticed that their usual ways of coping with their concerns are not working as well
  • Are feeling more uncertain about what they want to change in life
  • Prefer to have a more intensive series of interactions with a counselor

Examples of services include:

  • Individual Counseling
  • Relationship Counseling
  • Group Counseling (virtually or in-person through the Counseling Center at the USF Tampa campus)

Care Coordination 

This service is designed to help students connect to the right kind of services outside our center. Students whose concerns fall outside of our scope of care, who are seeking specialized services, or who desire long-term counseling services, may find that having input in the process can be helpful. In many of these circumstances, getting connected to the right kind of treatment outside of our center can prevent any additional discomfort or distress.

Ideal for individuals who:

  • Are experiencing particularly severe or highly disruptive psychological symptoms
  • Have been feeling the need for on-going care that may continue over several years
  • Are looking for options that allow for multiple appointments in a week
  • Plan to leave the university and are needed support in the community

Examples of services include:

  • Referral assistance
  • Coordination with Health and Wellness Coordinator for care management
  • No matter what your needs, we have the right resources and referrals to get you there
  • We can support this process both within our office and as a part of a team that can include other professionals on campus

Our goal is to offer the most effective, adaptive, and responsive services to help you feel your best, thrive on a personal level, and succeed throughout your time at USF. Your input and preferences in this approach are highly important. We welcome continued conversations about how we can best meet your needs and we look forward to working with you.