Mental Health Counseling and Support
Whether you’re worried about grades or a personal crisis, we’re here to support mental wellness through a variety of services to currently registered students.
Types of Services
Different people require different levels of care or intervention. At UB, we offer a stepped approach, with different levels of support to help you, including:
Self-Help Resources
Educational Workshops
Mental Health Counseling
- Same-day needs assessment appointments
- Brief individual or couples counseling
- Weekly group counseling
- Emergency consultations
Evaluations and Referrals
- Evaluation for psychiatric medication and monitoring
- Referrals to an off-campus mental health provider
- Connections to other offices and supports on campus
You can access self-help resources any time, or attend any virtual educational workshops you choose. If you would prefer to talk with a counselor (one-on-one or in a group session) or request a referral to a community provider, please review the information on this page, and then schedule a needs assessment appointment.
You can contact Counseling Services if you need counseling, or if you know a student who may be in crisis.
What is Counseling?
In counseling sessions, you can expect to have open and honest discussions with a trained counselor in a safe environment. Here, you can:
- Talk about your feelings, behaviors, relationships, life experiences and circumstances (often by recreating the issues that brought you to counseling)
- Work with your counselor to identify your strengths, find resources, and begin a process of change and growth
- Learn how to make healthy choices, have more satisfying relationships and make progress toward your life goals
Free for All UB Students
As a currently registered UB undergraduate or graduate student, you have access to our services through your mandatory comprehensive health fee. Students can contact Counseling Services if they need counseling, or if they know a student who may be in crisis. All racial, ethnic, religious, gender, sexual orientations, and age differences are fully respected.
Private, Confidential and Respectful
Participation in counseling is private and confidential as permitted by law. In fact, counselors are under ethical and legal obligations not to release confidential information.
Unless the student provides written permission:
- Counselors will not provide anyone with information about a student, and will not let others know that a student is in counseling
- Information about counseling will not go into a student’s academic record, and will not be given to parents, family or the government (including home governments for international students)
The only exceptions to sharing information about a student in counseling are those rare times when it is clear that a person’s life is in danger, when a child appears to be in danger of being harmed, or when the information is required by a court of law (i.e., subpoenaed) within the United States. We encourage students to discuss any concerns they have about confidentiality with their counselor.
All racial, ethnic, religious, gender, sexual orientations, and age differences are fully respected in counseling.
Trained and Experienced Counselors
At UB, our counselors have experience helping students deal with a wide range of personal and academic difficulties. The Counseling Services staff includes psychologists, mental health counselors, social workers, psychiatric nurse practitioners and graduate student interns.
Why Go to Counseling?
When you’re in a crisis or dealing with stress, you may find it helpful to talk with a trained counselor. Students come to Counseling Services to get help with a variety of concerns, including:
- Personal issues: stress, anxiety, depression, anger, loneliness, low self-esteem, low self-confidence, self-defeating behaviors, grief, suicidal feelings, different emotional states
- Relationship issues: romantic relationship difficulties (finding, enhancing or ending a relationship), sexual concerns, roommate problems, family problems, getting along with others
- Developmental issues: sense of identity, sexual orientation, adjustment to college, life transitions, cultural identity and adjustment
- Academic concerns: performance anxiety, perfectionism, underachievement, procrastination, choice of major or career, life purpose and direction
- International students: adjusting to U.S. culture, language difficulties, separation from family and friends, dating people from different cultures, coping with worries about visa and immigration issues
- Other issues: effects of trauma, rape or sexual assault, substance abuse, body image (including eating disorders), healthy lifestyle choices, past or current sexual or physical abuse, drug or alcohol abuse, life-threatening illnesses
Types of Counseling Available
Counseling Services offers counseling for groups and individuals, including emergency consultations.
Explore personal issues, share common concerns and try out new ways of interacting with others. There is no limit to the number of group counseling sessions you can attend.
What is Group Counseling?
Group counseling is a natural extension of the way you live your daily life, interacting with others. But instead of talking to your family, social networks or classes, you talk with similar students and with counselors who can help.
Learn from Others
During group counseling, you will likely find that you have a lot in common with other group members, and that other people may have the same types of difficulties that you are facing. We work hard to create a strong level of trust, so everyone in the group can talk openly and honestly.
What You Can Expect
A typical group includes 6-12 students and 1-2 therapists, and meets once per week. Under the skilled direction of the group therapists, the group is able to give support, and offer alternative perspectives and new skills. By following this process, you can address your concerns, learn alternative behaviors, and develop new ways of relating to people.
You Decide How Much to Share
How much you talk about yourself depends upon what you are comfortable with. You control what you share with the group; in fact, we encourage you not to share until you’re ready. Group leaders are there to help develop a safe environment and facilitate the conversation.
Spring 2021 Virtual Groups Schedule
Different types of groups are offered each semester; please see below for current groups.
Group Pre-Requisites
- Students must complete a Needs Assessment with a UB Counseling Services counselor in order to participate in a group. Contact Counseling Services for more information.
- Spring groups begin meeting in the middle of February and are then closed to new members.
- Five-week groups are offered twice per semester, and accept students at the beginning and mid-point of the semester.
Coping Skills Group
Tuesdays 1:30 - 3:00 pm – Online
This structured group will teach skills to live in the present, deal with stress, manage difficult emotions, and handle interpersonal conflict in effective ways.
UNLEARNING RACISM GROUP
Thursdays 1:30-3:00 pm - Online
This group provides a supportive environment in which people who hold white privilege can explore and question their roles in the perpetuation of racism. Among other things, group members examine various aspects of white privilege and gain understanding about how they can become allies to People of Color.
CONNECTIONS
Wednesdays 2:00-3:30 - Online OR
Thursdays 1:30-3:00 – Online
This group provides a warm and supportive environment in which you can experiment constructively with new ways of relating to others, share personal experiences, express fears and concerns, and get support and feedback. People participate in this group for a number of reasons including having difficulties in relationships, finding their relationships are not satisfying, being curious about how others perceive them, and seeking support when experimenting with new relational behaviors and confidential environment for group members to share information and support each other.
grief support group
Tuesdays 3:00-4:30 pm - Online
This virtual support group is designed for students who have lost a loved one through death. The overall mission is to provide space, acceptance and support for students to mourn the loss of their loved one and to acknowledge the many feelings associated with grief and loss. This semi-structured support group will provide information on unique and different styles of grieving, as well as challenges of grieving. The group will also provide a space to discuss helpful strategies to support each student in their unique grief journey.
Yoga to Manage Moods
Thursdays 1:00-2:00 – Online
*5-week group, offered twice during the semester
A co-ed Hatha Yoga group that provides a holistic approach to mood and symptom management. Using a combination of gentle physical poses, breathing and relaxation techniques, this group allows participants to feel more connected and balanced within the body and mind. A trauma sensitive, person-centered approach will be utilized and no previous yoga experience is necessary.
Students of Color Support Group
Tuesdays 2:30-4:00 - Online
This semi-structured support group is committed to providing an affirming space for Students of Color to reflect on their experiences at a Predominately White Institution. In this group we recognize the unique challenges of Students of Color and aim to foster a community for students to give voice to their experiences, gain support, and develop healthy coping strategies. Topics explored in this group include but are not limited to: navigating microaggressions, feelings of isolation, imposter syndrome, family/social relationships, and maintaining healthy self-care in the current socio-political climate.
International Student Support Group
Mondays 1:00-2:30 – Online
This group will provide a safe, supportive, and comfortable place for international students to discuss adjustment stressors and cross-cultural experiences in the U.S. The group will also provide a safe and confidential environment for group members to share information and support each other.
BODY IMAGE/EATING CONCERNS GROUP
Wednesdays 1:30-3:00 pm – Online
A structured female only group for students who want to explore their relationship with body image concerns (including size, weight and other body insecurities) as well as concerns with food (shame and negative self-talk surrounding food intake, calorie counting, bingeing, purging, restricting, overexercising, etc). Individuals with eating concerns, eating disorders or disordered/disrupted eating patterns as well as those with body image concerns would be eligible. It is beneficial for students who are in various stages of preoccupation with food and body size. This group will teach skills to live in the present, deal with stress, manage difficult emotions, and handle interpersonal conflict. It will also assist clients in connecting with and living in their bodies more effectively. Group members have to be in individual therapy concurrently.
LGBTQ Support Group
Tuesdays 3:00-4:30 pm – Online
This is a group for students who are questioning or exploring their gender identity and/or their sexual identity. It is also for students who identify as gender variant, transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or queer. The goal of the group is to provide a safe, supportive and confidential forum to talk about multiple identities, coming out, relationships with family and friends, dating, academics, transitioning, homophobia, transphobia, the “isms”, and other issues of interest to members.
iREST MEDITATION
Thursdays 2:30-4:00 pm – Online
iRest meditation recognizes that we interpret our human experiences through our constantly changing thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations.This yoga-based meditation practice also incorporates psychology and neuroscience in training group members to welcome and engage these changing states while in a relaxed state. Members will learn to focus and release attention in a way that cultivates concentration, letting go when feeling stuck and tapping into their unchanging wholeness of Being.This can lead to a stronger sense of feeling secure and safe with themselves, while also feeling more connected to themselves and others. No previous meditation experience.
EMOTIONAL WELLNESS
Thursdays 3:00-4:30 pm – Online OR
Fridays 10:00-11:30 am – Online
*5-week group, offered twice during the semester
This structured group will provide students with education and coping strategies to help with stress, anxiety, and mood management. Some of the topics covered may include self-care, relaxation and effective stress management, coping with anxiety in healthy ways, and increasing positive emotions.
GRADUATE AND NON-TRADITIONAL STUDENT SUPPORT GROUP
Tuesdays 1:00-2:30 pm – Online
This group is designed to allow graduate and non-traditional students to explore the unique challenges they face in a safe and supportive environment. It can help students explore their identity, find new ways of relating to others, recognize how stressors impact them, and share personal experiences. The group can assist students in finding alternative ways of looking at life’s challenges to enable the development of healthier coping strategies.
MINDFUL SELF-COMPASSION
Mondays 11:00 am-12:30 pm – Online
Self-compassion involves being warm and understanding toward ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate. Self-compassion is the opposite of ignoring our pain or punishing ourselves with self-judgment. Research suggest that the skills of mindfulness and self-compassion can help people regulate emotions, engage in healthy self-care, and respond to adversity in resilient ways. This group will help students learn the skills of mindfulness and self-compassion in order to cope with stress, anxiety, depression, and life challenges in healthy and balanced ways.
GETTING UNSTUCK: TOOLS FOR ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Mondays 3:00-4:30 pm – Online
Are you feeling stuck in your studying – finding yourself easily distracted or procrastinating? This group teaches psychological tools to help students better manage the thoughts and feelings that can negatively impact academic functioning, and helps students to act more in line with their academic goals.
Emergencies
Emergency Consultations
Same-day emergency consultations are available throughout the day at the North Campus office. If you are worried about yourself, a family member, roommate or friend, we encourage you to contact us as soon as possible. A counselor is available to meet with students in crisis when not being seen immediately could lead to serious consequences. We provide emergency consultations for:
- Suicidal thoughts
- Thoughts about harming another person
- Recent assault or abuse
- Knowledge of another person being abused or assaulted
- Concern about your own safety
- Hallucinations
- Recent death of a loved one
- Witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event
Student Life
University at Buffalo
120 Richmond Quadrangle, North Campus
Buffalo, NY 14261
Phone: (716) 645-2720; Fax: (716) 645-2175
Mental Health Emergency Resources
Mental Health Emergency?
On-Campus Resources:
- Call University Police: 716-645-2222 University Police officers are trained to handle crisis situations.
- Or call Counseling Services: 716-645-2720 and ask to speak to the crisis counselor. After hours, press option “2” to be connected to the crisis counselor.
Off-Campus Resources:
- Call 911
- Crisis Services of Erie County 24-hour Hotline: 716-834-3131
- 24-hour Crisis Text Line: Text: “GOT5” to 741-741
Scope of Care
If you require mental health services that are beyond what Counseling Services can provide, we will often make referrals to community resources. You may be referred to a community provider if there is:
- A need for weekly appointments
- An inability or unwillingness to provide the necessary information to thoroughly assess symptoms
- Non-compliance with treatment recommendations including regular session attendance
- The need for specialized services, such as inpatient or intensive outpatient substance abuse, eating disorder, or mood disorder treatment; and/or court-mandated assessment or treatment requirements
Need Help?
Short-term on campus mental health support
Student Life
University at Buffalo
120 Richmond Quadrangle, North Campus
Buffalo, NY 14261
Phone: (716) 645-2720; Fax: (716) 645-2175
Additional Resources
Crisis Text Line
Need to talk? The Crisis Text Line provides 24-hour support for people experiencing a mental health or situational crisis. Users are connected to a trained Crisis Counselor, who will help them develop a plan to stay safe. Messages are confidential, anonymous and secure. Data usage while texting the Crisis Text Line is free and the number will not appear on a phone bill. Text: “GOT5” to 741-741
Disclaimer
This information is designed to provide self-help resources for mental health. This website is not psychotherapy treatment. If you have questions, need help or just want someone to talk with, please contact Counseling Services.
Mental Health Emergency?
On-Campus Resources:
- Call University Police: 716-645-2222 University Police officers are trained to handle crisis situations.
- Or call Counseling Services: 716-645-2720 and ask to speak to the crisis counselor. After hours, press option “2” to be connected to the crisis counselor.
Off-Campus Resources:
- Call 911
- Crisis Services of Erie County 24-hour Hotline: 716-834-3131
- 24-hour Crisis Text Line: Text: “GOT5” to 741-741
Worried About Someone Else?
Faculty, staff, family members and other students can contact Counseling Services at any time if they are concerned about a student.
Upcoming Events
Stressed Out?
Learn how to deal with stress and find stress-relief events on campus.
Be Proactive About Your Health
Need help making a plan?
Consultations
Consultations are available for campus members, including students, parents, faculty and staff. You can request a consultation if you are concerned about a UB student. Contact Counseling Services to learn more.