The Assisting Students in Distress: Green Folder Project is a quick reference guide for faculty and staff on how to recognize, support, and refer distressed students. To request hard copies for your department, please complete our Google form.

Aloha! E komo mai!

Thank you for visiting us! The CSDC offers support to UH Mānoa students to assist with mental health, personal, or academic concerns. Our approach is encouraging, collaborative, goal-focused, and culturally-sensitive. We help to foster more personal awareness and skills to cope with challenges and achieve personal and academic goals.

Counseling and Student Development Center

We provide a variety of services to students, including short-term personal counseling, couples and career counseling, workshops, support groups, and peer fellow services. In most cases, services at the CSDC begin with a phone screen. This is a brief call with one of our mental health counselors to assess and recommend next steps to support students with mental health and well-being concerns. All clinical services are confidential. Individual, couples, and group counseling services are free of charge for Mānoa students. We also offer urgent consultations to faculty and staff on student-related concerns. In addition, psychiatric services and assessment services are available to students for a fee.

CSDC Hours and Availability

The CSDC is open during normal business hours, Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (closed on State holidays) with the first appointment starting at 8:30 a.m. Students who are sick or not feeling well are asked to avoid coming into the Center for services. Rather, students are encouraged to contact the CSDC by phone and our staff will help them arrange for appropriate services.

The CSDC is located in Room 312 of the Queen Lili‘uokalani Center for Student Services, at the heart of the Mānoa campus. The Center is interested in serving all UH Mānoa students. If you have any special accommodation needs, let us know so that arrangements can be made that will work for you.

Eligibility

Currently enrolled students who have paid the Health Fee are eligible for an initial appointment. The most appropriate form of follow-up care (group counseling, individual counseling, or off-campus referral) will be determined primarily by the counselor in collaboration with the student. In accordance with the licensing laws for our providers, individual, group, and couple therapy services can only be provided for students who are physically located in the State of Hawai'i.

Scope of Practice

In order to make the best use of our resources, we provide a variety of support to meet students’ needs. These include:

Phone Screens and Initial Consultations with recommendations for most appropriate service
Crisis management (during business hours)
Short-term, goal-directed individual or couple’s therapy
Consultation (how to help another student in distress, understanding options for a difficult or distressing situation)
Support groups
Online resource: TAO (Therapy Assistance Online)
Assistance with finding a community Mental Health Provider
Peer Fellow support

Limits of Practice

Some students’ needs fall outside of the expertise or resources available at the CSDC. When this happens, our counseling staff can assist by providing referral options that are believed to best meet a student’s needs. Some examples of clinical issues that will likely be addressed through a community referral include but are not limited to:

Students requiring appointments more than once weekly
Students requiring appointments over an extended period of time (long-term therapy)
Students whose needs are better met with specialized services or intensive treatment (e.g., clinic specializing in disordered eating or substance use, in-patient services)
Court-ordered or forensic assessments/treatment
Comprehensive assessments for Learning Disorders
Requests for Emotional Support Animal letters
Therapy services for faculty or staff

TAO (Therapy Assistance Online)

TAO includes over 150 brief, effective, educational sessions covering over 50 common topics and skills related to mental health, wellness, and substance use issues. TAO includes interactive sessions, mindfulness exercises and practice tools all aimed at helping you achieve your goals. Please visit our TAO page to learn how to access this helpful resource.

Mental Health Resources

If you are experiencing a mental health emergency or believe you are a danger to yourself and/or others, please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. You may also consider one of the resources below.

Hawai‘i CARES Hotline
24/7, free support service for help with crisis, mental health, and substance use
http://hicares.hawaii.gov/
Call, text, or chat 988
Direct: 808-832-3100
Toll-free: 800-753-6879
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, and prevention and crisis resources
https://988lifeline.org/
Call 988
Chat and text: https://988lifeline.org/chat/
Disaster Distress Helpline
Toll-free, multilingual, crisis support service available 24/7 to all residents in the U.S. and its territories who are experiencing emotional distress related to natural or human-caused disasters
https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disaster-distress-helpline
Call or text 1-800-985-5990
UH Mānoa Counseling and Student Development Center
Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm
http://manoa.hawaii.edu/counseling/
Phone: 808-956-7927
Employee Assistance of the Pacific
The EAP provides confidential, short-term professional counseling services to employees who may be experiencing personal problems that are affecting job performance.
Monday – Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
https://www.eapacific.com/
Phone: 808-597-8222
Toll-free: 877-597-8222