Counseling & Psychological Services
Wait Times
We understand that in previous semesters, CAPS wait times have been a concern for many students. Matching available student hours to available therapist hours—especially when factoring in requests for a particular therapist or therapist of a certain identity— becomes a massive scheduling Tetris!
When you request individual therapy through CAPS, one thing that can help speed up the scheduling process is putting down as many possible available times as you can when requesting an appointment. We know that not every free hour in your schedule may be your preference, but since CAPS therapists have limited hours, letting us know all of your free hours means cutting out back-and-forth emails about whether you have any other free hours. However, feel free to indicate if any of the hours you listed are your preference!
After you fill out the appointment request form, you will receive an email confirmation within a few days. We try to place everyone with a counselor as quickly as possible, but this process can sometimes take a few weeks, if not even longer. We don’t say this to be discouraging. We want to be transparent about potential wait times, and we understand they can be frustrating.
While you are waiting to be scheduled with an ongoing therapist, CAPS does offer drop-in services that you can use whether or not you have an ongoing therapist! Drop-in therapy sessions happen via video conference and like all CAPS services are free of charge. Drop-in sessions are brief (15-20 minute) sessions at 11:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. on any weekday. You can email hc-capsdropin [at] haverford.edu to request an appointment. Health advocates can also help with referrals.
CAPS also offers a single 45-minute session that you can request while you are waiting to be scheduled for ongoing therapy. Single sessions can also be a great opportunity to work with a therapist on a shorter-term challenge you are facing or to discuss whether ongoing therapy is for you.
If there is ever an emergency outside of office hours, you can always call Campus Safety (610-896-1111) to be connected with the on-call counselor, whether or not you use other CAPS services.