UCLA
Counseling and Psychological Services
Students walking in between classes on Bruin Walk

Specialty Services

For more information on our drop-in hours, please head to our Drop-In Hours webpage.

CAPS offers specialized services in the following areas:

ADHD Services

Assessment

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) assessments are available at CAPS for students with SHIP insurance. SHIP insured students must be in treatment at CAPS or an off-campus therapist to be eligible for a CAPS assessment. Students without SHIP insurance are referred to providers in their private insurance network for assessment and/or medication management.

Assessments are tailored to the student’s presenting concerns and include:

  • Clinical interview
  • Standardized structured adult ADHD interview
  • Formal psychological assessment tests
  • Assessment review with treatment recommendations

If you have prior diagnosis of ADHD and want to be seen at CAPS:

  1. Schedule a triage appointment at CAPS
  2. Provide documentation of previous ADHD evaluation. (e.g. assessment report)

Assessment report should include the following:

  • a clinical interview with specific evaluation of ADHD symptoms
  • an objective measure such as the CPT or the IVA
  • surveys completed by you and someone else who knows you well (example: CAARS Survey)

Documentation of previous assessment will be reviewed by the ADHD clinic team to determine if it meets our threshold for diagnosis.

If you do not have a prior diagnosis of ADHD and are interested in an ADHD evaluation at CAPS:

Checklist:

  1. Confirm you have SHIP insurance
  2. Have a triage appointment at CAPS who will either schedule a general intake with a CAPS therapist or request a release of information for ADHD Clinical Coordinator to speak with your off campus therapist if you have one
  3. Therapist will assess if an ADHD evaluation is indicated at this time
  4. If indicated, therapist will consult with a member of the ADHD team to determine if a CAPS ADHD evaluation is appropriate
  5. An ADHD evaluation at CAPS will occur over the course of 3-4 sessions
  6. If you are given a diagnosis of ADHD, your therapist will help provide next steps for psychiatry or CAE support if desired.

Going to an off-campus provider for an evaluation?

Here’s what to ask for if you’re coming to caps for psychiatry:

Assessment report including:

  • a clinical interview with specific evaluation of ADHD symptoms
  • an objective measure such as the CPT or the IVA
  • surveys completed by you and someone else who knows you well (example: CAARS Survey)

Treatment

CAPS will provide recommendations as indicated to support students diagnosed with ADHD.

ADHD Medication Management and Refills-

  • ADHD medication management and refills are provided to students at CAPS who has a diagnosis of ADHD through CAPS or a verified diagnosis from a community provider (see above).
  • In order to access CAPS psychiatry for medication you will also need to be in therapy at CAPS. If you are not looking for therapy at this time, you may be given assistance in finding a psychiatrist in the community for medication management. CAPS is unable to provide refills for students who are not in current CAPS treatment.
  • Medication management may be provided at CAPS for ADHD following clearance from a student’s primary care provider at the Ashe Center.
  • Refills cannot be provided at the time of a Triage appt. Students will be required to have an intake with a CAPS therapist prior to a referral to a staff psychiatrist for evaluation.

Groups

  • CAPS has skills-based groups focused on supporting students with academic difficulties including Finding Focus and Overcoming Procrastination.
  • Any UCLA student is welcome to sign up for these groups by contacting the front desk. Please see group brochure for more information

Accommodation requests

  • Students requiring accommodations related to diagnosed ADHD are referred to the Center for Accessible Education (CAE) following the diagnostic assessment.
  • Your CAPS therapist is able to complete a CAE Form for you indicating your diagnosis after you’ve completed a release of information (ROI) and submitted it to your CAPS therapist (hyperlink)

For student athletes seeking ADHD treatment
Download the Athletics ADHD Referral form for further instructions.

Disordered Eating Services

The CAPS Eating Disorder Team is comprised of clinicians with experience and interest in the complexities of eating disorders. Our team is multidisciplinary to provide evidence-based care for our students. Since eating disorders have serious medical complications, we coordinate care closely with medical providers and dieticians at UCLA Ashe Center or with outside treatment providers. For students who require more intensive or long-term eating disorder treatment, we help students connect to treatment in Los Angeles or near their homes. We welcome parent and family involvement in treatment planning as appropriate.

CAPS Eating Disorder Services:

  • Clinical assessment and treatment recommendations
  • Short term individual therapy
  • Psychiatry
  • Group therapy
    • Disordered Eating I
    • Disordered Eating II
  • Case management/treatment planning to help students connect with outside services.

Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center

  • Primary and specialty medical care
  • Nutritional counseling
  • Laboratory
  • Pharmacy

UCLA Health Nourished for Life Outpatient Program

  • Interdisciplinary assessment and treatment recommendations
  • Medical assessment and consultation
  • Psychotherapy
  • Nutritional counseling

UCLA Health Medical Stabilization Program for Disordered Eating, UCLA Santa Monica Hospital

Information on Eating Disorders:

Eating disorders (EDs) are serious mental illnesses with significant, life-threatening physical and psychological complications.

Common Types of Eating Disorders:

  • Anorexia Nervosa: characterized by food restriction, weight loss and intense fear of gaining weight and often a denial of the severity of weight loss or low weight.
  • Bulimia Nervosa: characterized by a cycle of bingeing (a feeling of loss of control while eating large quantities of food) and compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting designed to undo or compensate for the effects of binge eating.
  • Binge Eating Disorder: characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food (often very quickly and to the point of discomfort); a feeling of a loss of control during the binge; experiencing shame, distress or guilt afterwards
  • Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED): a feeding or eating disorder characterized by some of the above symptoms, causes significant distress or impairment, but does not meet the criteria for another feeding or eating disorder.

For more information on eating or feeding disorders, visit https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/what-are-eating-disorders

Important Facts about Eating Disorders:

  • EDs affect people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations and socioeconomic backgrounds; and people with a variety of body shapes, weights and sizes
  • People who are normal weight can have EDs
  • Anorexia Nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder
  • The serious medical consequences of EDs can go unrecognized
  • Some people struggling with EDs may not understand the severity of their condition

Signs & Symptoms of Eating Disorders:

Individuals with EDs may present in a variety of ways. An ED may occur without obvious physical signs & symptoms

Psychological symptoms:

  • Preoccupation with thoughts about weight, shape, and food
  • Self-esteem that is heavily influenced by perceptions of body weight and shape
  • Excessive exercise or exercising despite being injured or sick
  • Dieting, fasting, refusing to eat certain foods
  • Periods of loss of control of eating
  • Guilt, shame, and distress
  • Denial of hunger
  • Social withdrawal
  • Denial of severity of low weight or other ED behaviors

Physical symptoms:

  • Significant weight loss, gain or fluctuations
  • Constantly feeling cold
  • Weakness
  • Fatigue or lethargy
  • Dizziness
  • Fainting
  • Hot flashes, sweating
  • Irregular heart beat
  • Irregular periods for women
  • Poor concentration/memory difficulties
  • Acid reflux
  • Dry hair and skin
  • Hair loss or growth of fine, soft hair on the body
  • Puffy cheeks

Treatment is available. Recovery is possible.

Ideal standard of care includes early recognition and timely intervention using an evidence-based, multidisciplinary team approach (medical, psychological, & nutritional). Treatment plans often are tailored to individual needs and may include on or more of the following:

  • Individual group, and/or family psychotherapy
  • Medical care and monitoring
  • Nutritional counseling
  • Medications
  • Hospitalization for severe illness

Additional Resources:

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/eating-disorders/index.shtml#part_145410

https://www.aedweb.org/home

Students interested in learning more about CAPS services for Disordered Eating Services can call CAPS at (310) 825-0768 or ask during a same day Triage Appointment. Monday - Thursday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm and Fridays 9:00 am - 3:00 pm.

International Student Specialty Services

Understanding that many of our students hail from different countries and backgrounds, CAPS is committed to serving students with individually-tailored approaches that best suit their needs. All clinicians are trained to provide culturally-sensitive treatment, which means clinicians strive to understand, respect, and accommodate the student’s cultural values, belief systems, and preferred language, among many other factors. Like our student population, CAPS clinicians are highly diverse. They also speak a range of languages: American Sign Language, Chinese-Cantonese, Chinese-Mandarin, Farsi, Serbian, Spanish, and Tagalog. The CAPS Front Desk will have a comprehensive list of available languages – the proficiency level for each language varies between conversational to fluent (able to conduct therapy in another language).

Services at CAPS:

  • Individual counseling and psychotherapy for international students
  • International Student Workshop Series
    • Previous topics included Time and Stress Management, Interpersonal Communication 101, Body Image and Positivity, Creating a Home Away from Home
  • Mental Health education and awareness programming specific to International Students in collaboration with Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars and International Student clubs and organizations

Additional Resources on Campus:

Students interested in learning more about CAPS services for international students can call CAPS at (310) 825-0768 or ask during a same day Triage Appointment: Monday - Thursday 9am - 4pm and Fridays 9am - 3pm.

LGBQ Student Services

All of our licensed therapists have completed specialized training in sexual orientation and gender identity concerns. We are committed to providing compassionate and high-quality LGBTQ-affirmative services.

Services at CAPS:

CAPS LGBTQ+ Mental Health Team

  • Jennifer Beckwith, L.M.F.T.
  • Dee Chappelear, Ph.D.
  • Charlie Champion, Ph.D.
  • Sydney Dieudonne, L.M.F.T.
  • Xiaoming Hu, L.C.S.W.
  • Shuchang Kang, Ph.D.
  • Steve Sager, M.D.
  • Colin Sutton, L.C.S.W.
  • Tara Tehrani, Psy.D.
  • Jason Tomasian, L.C.S.W.
  • Beth Turner, Psy.D.

Additional Resources on Campus

Students interested in learning more about CAPS LGBQ Specialty Services can call CAPS at (310) 825-0768 or ask during a same day Triage Appointment: Monday - Thursday 9am - 4pm and Fridays 9am - 3pm.

Transgender Care at CAPS

CAPS has multiple mental health providers who are experienced and knowledgeable in providing gender affirming care to transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming (TGNC) students. You can also request a counselor in the LGBTQ Mental Health team [link to LGBTQ services page which may include staff names and pics] by indicating that you are interested in transgender care during your brief screen appointment. CAPS provides short term therapy, and when appropriate, can refer students to more intensive, specialized, or long term treatments off campus.

Gender affirming therapy can address a wide range of concerns including:

  • Exploration of gender identity and gender expression
  • Challenges related to social and physical transitioning
  • General mental health issues, possibly unrelated to gender identity
  • Intersectional identity concerns (e.g. how specific culture and gender norms affect each individual)
  • Assistance in navigating medical, legal, social opportunities and barriers on campus (i.e. linking to social supports, legal services, health care providers, UC SHIP covered gender affirming medical services)

Services at CAPS:

Students Interested in Initiating Hormone Therapy:

The Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center provides hormone therapy using an informed consent model. Under this model, a mental health evaluation is not required, (i.e. no letters, no clearance statements, no required therapy), in order to consider beginning hormone therapy with your Ashe clinician. Nevertheless, many students do access mental health care to process their readiness for hormone therapy, emotional and psychological changes related to medical transition, and impact on everyday life. In addition, in some cases, you and your Ashe clinician may consider mental health care as an important part of your transition. Please visit the Ashe website for more information about their transgender health clinic: https://www.studenthealth.ucla.edu/services/transgender-health-clinic

Other UC SHIP covered transgender care services:

You can find more information about what is covered and not covered by UC SHIP for transgender care in the UC SHIP Transgender Benefits flyer. Please note that many services will require pre-authorization and/or an administrative referral from your PCP.

  • If you have specific questions about insurance coverage and relevant requirements, please consult with Steven Neflas at the UC SHIP Insurance Office at shsins@ashe.ucla.edu Attn: Steven Neflas - Insurance Coordinator or PH 310-794-5614

In addition, please read more about the UC SHIP Insurance ID Card Mobile App at www.studenthealth.ucla.edu.

Letters:

Some medical procedures require one or two letters from mental health providers. Please refer to the surgery requirements checklist on the Ashe website. CAPS counselors can provide this evaluation and letters of readiness based on WPATH (The World Professional Association for Transgender Health) recommended guidelines. Such criteria include:

  • Diagnosis of gender dysphoria
  • Capacity to consent
  • Age 18 or older (e.g. different requirements for minors)
  • If other mental health conditions are present, are they reasonably managed

Other topics to be discussed at this meeting includes pre and post-op preparation as recommended by your surgeon and the presence of adequate support during recovery time.

How students can update their preferred name, gender identity, and pronouns on their Ashe Patient Portal:

  1. Log onto Ashe Patient Portal
  2. Authenticate with your SSO
  3. Chose "Profile" tab to edit any of the available fields, including the three specific sections mentioned above

Students will have the following pre-populated options for gender identity:

  • Transgender
  • Intersex
  • Intersex Woman
  • Intersex Man
  • Genderqueer
  • Gender-nonconforming
  • Non-binary
  • Questioning
  • Two Spirit
  • Trans Woman
  • Trans Man
  • Female
  • Male
  • Agender

The following pre-populated options exist for pronouns:

  • She/her/hers
  • He/him/his
  • They/them/theirs

In both sections, students may also choose to use free text if they do not see options in the pre-populated list that meet their preferences.

Additional resources on campus:

In addition to mental health support, UCLA offers many resources for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming students, including changing your name, gender, and sexual orientation in University records; gender inclusive housing options, gender inclusive restrooms and facilities; many student organizations and groups, and more.

To learn more about additional resources available for transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming students at UCLA, please visit the Trans @ UCLA section of the UCLA LGBTQ Campus Resource Center website or visit the Center in the Student Activities Center. If you’d like to speak directly to an out trans staff member, email Andy Cofino (he/him), the Director of the UCLA LGBTQ Campus Resource Center at acofino@lgbt.ucla.edu

If you are seeking social space, Transgender UCLA Pride (TransUP) is a social organization for trans, nonbinary, genderqueer, agender, and gender questioning undergraduate and graduate students of the UCLA community. TransUP hosts bi-weekly social meetings, and has a group chat for members to stay connected. They can be contacted at transuclapride@gmail.com, facebook.com/transuclapride and on Instagram @uclatransup

Students interested in learning more about Transgender Care at CAPS can call CAPS at (310) 825-0768 or ask during a same day Triage Appointment: Monday - Thursday 9am - 4pm and Fridays 9am - 3pm.

Underrepresented Students

CAPS is committed to promoting inclusion and the affirmation of individual and cultural diversity. Our services and training foster the development of healthy behaviors necessary for success in a complex global environment.

Services at CAPS:

  • Affirmative individual counseling and psychotherapy for students of color
  • Therapy Groups
    • Asian American Community Support Group
    • Black and Bruin
    • Confiar Support Group
    • Graduate Students of Color

Additional Resources on Campus:

Students interested in learning more about CAPS services for Underrepresented Students can call CAPS at (310) 825-0768 or ask during a same day Triage Appointment: Monday - Thursday 9am - 4pm and Fridays 9am - 3pm.

Undocumented Student Program (USP) Specialty Services

CAPS, in partnership with the Undocumented Student Program at the Bruin Resource Center (BRC), hope to increase access to care for UCLA undocumented students and students in mixed status families. The USP team at CAPS is comprised of clinicians focused on social justice who provide UndocuAlly trainings to our campus partners in addition to the following services.

Services at CAPS:

  • Individual counseling and psychotherapy for undocumented students and students in mixed-status families
  • Therapy Group:
    • Immigration Impacted Student Support Group
  • Virtual Drop-In Hours in collaboration with USP at the BRC
  • Support of immigration matters and liaison services with the UC Immigrant Legal Services Department
  • Outreach and Prevention programming (or Wellness Workshops) specific to undocumented students

Additional Resources on Campus:

Students interested in learning more about CAPS services for Undocumented Student Program (USP) Specialty Services can call CAPS at (310) 825-0768 or ask during a same day Triage Appointment: Monday - Thursday 9am - 4pm and Fridays 9am - 3pm.