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K-State Today

August 24, 2021

Lafene CAPS services

Submitted by Kodee Walls

Lafene's Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS, shares its new and improved service model, Navigated Care.

The new approach will allow for increased access for all eligible students with a wide array of options for service by offering in-person and telehealth options. We ask everyone coming to or referring someone to CAPS to be open to all our service options, not just individual therapy. In many ways, individual therapy can be challenging, and not everyone is ready to engage in the level of change required to see improvements from individual therapy. We hope you will trust us to make the best, collaborative decision for students seeking support with our office. We endeavor to be thoughtful about our recommendations and acknowledge that needs may change as the semester progresses.

Key to the updated process is how students enter into our system. We are no longer pre-scheduling initial appointments. Instead, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. when the university is open, a student can drop by our office to meet with a therapist for a 20-minute consultation session. We encourage folks to stop by earlier in the day — the sooner, the better — as these drop-in slots are available on a first-come, first-served basis. ​We recognize that multiple people may come at the same time, and thus if a student tries two times, but is unable to meet for a consultation session, we will schedule them for the next available consultation session. The goal for these meetings, rather than the traditional intake as we've done in the past, is to ensure we're meeting the needs of our community and equipping students with options that make the most sense for their care. Services include workshops, group therapy and goal-oriented individual therapy. We may also provide referrals to community therapists if a student's concerns are better served with long-term or intensive therapy.

We will remain available during office hours 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, to respond to students in crisis/urgent need. A student is considered in crisis and will be seen within an hour if they want to kill themselves, want to kill someone else, are struggling with self-harming behaviors, think they may have been sexually assaulted, or are hearing/seeing things other people are not. A consultation meeting would best serve students experiencing a recent break-up or having motivation or academic concerns. If an urgent need arises for students when our office is not open, K-Staters can call our phone number 785-532-6927 and speak with a crisis therapist by phone.

If you have questions, contact Kodee Walls via email or phone at 785-532-6927.