Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at WSU provides individual-focused therapy, as well as workshops and group therapy to students and couples. CAPS is focused on providing psychological services primarily to students in the Pullman area. Faculty, staff and residents of Pullman are directed to the WSU Psychology Clinic, which is separate from CAPS.
About ten percent of eligible students on the WSU Pullman campus seek services at CAPS every academic year, said Loren Brown, licensed psychologist and CAPS director, which is consistent with national averages for most university and college counseling centers.
The demand for mental health services is impacted by the level of enrollment, staffing and amount of resources available on campus, Brown said.
Over the past few years, there has been a varied report of universities and colleges experiencing increase or decrease in requests for mental health services and Brown said this may also be due to telehealth options being available recently.
Brown also said CAPS faced a significant decrease in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic when classes were remote. However, after in-person classes resumed, the mental health requests became consistent again.
Higher volumes of students request for services at CAPS during the beginning of fall with students returning after summer break. Some of the students who begin utilizing CAPS during the fall semester, continue visiting in the spring as well, Brown said.
To manage this influx of students, CAPS offers “initial consultation” appointments to assess the students’ needs and make treatment recommendations based on students’ level of distress and severity of symptoms, along with extra initial consultation slots during the first week of classes.
The initial consultation also gives the students a chance to meet with the counselor and talk about their concerns, come up with potential recommendations and simply see if the services are a good fit for them, Brown said.
Amie Smith, licensed psychologist and associate/clinical director of CAPS, said same-day initial consultations are offered to help students meet a provider sooner than scheduling weeks in advance.
Smith said these initial consultations are typically 30-minutes long and conducted via Zoom to accommodate the students’ busy schedules; CAPS offers approximately ten initial consultations each day beginning 11 a.m.
Smith suggested calling as soon as CAPS opens at 8 a.m. on a day that the student may be available to complete about 30 minutes of paperwork and attend the 30 minute appointment on Zoom. If appointments have been unavailable several days in a row, she suggests letting the staff know.
There may be an increase in requests during midterms and as the semester progresses, with fewer initial consultations after the spring break or towards the end of the semester.
WSU Pullman students are required to pay a Student Health Fee when enrolled to access Cougar Health Services which CAPS is a part of. Individual, couple and group counseling services are included in the Student Health Fee and no insurance is billed when utilizing those services.
“I wouldn’t say that counseling services are free,” Brown said.
However, psychiatric services are billed to a student’s health insurance similar to other services provided at CHS medical clinic.
A variety of sources, including the Student Health Fee, revenue from billing insurance, grants and core funds from the university, besides others, help to fund CHS including CAPS.
“We do not have limits on the number of individual counseling sessions a student may receive,” Brown said.
Session limits have been removed as of May 2025, but CAPS is still trying to be thoughtful about how to best use the limited resource of the counseling sessions, Brown said, so a new model is being incorporated to give therapists more flexibility in determining who may need additional treatment as well as using data and collaborative check-ins with current clients to determine who may be ready to end treatment.
CAPS is using a brief model of therapy with most students where they receive the help they need in about 4-5 sessions.
Psychologists are able to meet with the students on a weekly or every other week basis. If students need therapy more than twice a week for the academic year, CAPS suggests a local community or telehealth provider who could meet with them more frequently than CAPS’ capacity, Brown said.
Individuals seeking mental health services in the community may have to wait for months to score an appointment, but CAPS is able to see students in a much quicker timeframe.
A challenge that CAPS continues to navigate is adding to the diversity of the counselors, Brown said, although all the counselors at CAPS are well-trained to respect and integrate a student’s beliefs, values and culture into treatment, some students may feel more comfortable to meet with a therapist who shares some of their identities.
Brown suggested utilizing resources listed on the CAPS website and consulting with health insurance providers to explore options like Psychology Today or other online directories of therapists and counselors to see if they can find a provider that may be a good fit.
