2026-2027 Academic Catalog

Counseling Center

Location: Student Success Center, Room 3100, MSC 0801
Phone: (540) 568-6552

The Counseling Center provides free, confidential personal counseling services to all JMU students. Initial visits do not require an appointment as the Counseling Center offers walk-in hours for initial assessments Monday-Friday 10am-3pm.

JMU students experiencing a mental health emergency (e.g., thoughts or plans to kill yourself, thoughts of seriously harming others, recent sexual assault) can call or come into the Counseling Center during business hours to speak with a clinician. After regular business hours or on weekends, call the Counseling Center and select "Option 1" to connect to the after-hours crisis line.

Counseling services typically provided at the Counseling Center involve issues such as relationship problems, self-esteem, depression, anxiety/stress, eating and body image concerns, and difficulty adjusting to college life.

Treatment options provided by the Counseling Center include:

  • Specialized Workshops: There are several specialized workshops to assist JMU students with a variety of goals, including: reducing anxiety symptoms, improving mood, increasing coping strategies, regulating emotions, managing distress, fostering healthy relationships and improving self-care. These programs include numerous evidence-based strategies and interventions. These free drop-in workshops are one of the quickest ways to reduce symptoms.
  • Group Counseling: Group counseling is a great way to address a variety of issues within a clinician facilitated small group of participants who meet weekly to discuss their concerns. Groups typically focus on a specific experience, identity, or symptoms (e.g., DBT, Grief, Nature Nurture Ecotherapy, ReSET:Perfectionism, Understanding Self and Others).
  • Individual Counseling: Individual counseling provides students with the opportunity to freely explore any personal problems or concerns which have a negative impact on the quality of their life. Due to the high demand for clinical services, individual counseling services at the Counseling center are typically brief, student generally meet with their clinician for approximately 3-5 sessions, depending upon treatment needs and availability. Students who request or require longer term treatment are provided with a referral to a clinician or other services in the local community.
  • Case Management Services: The Case Managers provide services to students seeking care from the Counseling Center who are assessed as needing additional support due to symptom presentation, lack of resources/means, and elevated risk to themselves or others.
  • Sexual Trauma Empowerment Program (STEP): The Counseling Center provides a variety of clinical, educational, consultation, and referral services for survivors of sexual trauma.
  • Psychiatric Services: The Counseling Center Psychiatric staff are trained medical professionals who specialize in prescribing medications that may be helpful to students dealing with mental health concerns. Psychiatric services are only available to students who are currently engaged in ongoing treatment at the Counseling Center. Once students are stabilized on medication, they will be transferred to a community provider in Harrisonburg or back home. Students who are interested in only medication, need a refill, or medication management will be referred to a provider in the community.
  • Consultation: The Counseling Center staff provide consultation, in person or over the phone, to students, faculty, staff, and others who are concerned about the distressed, unusual, problematic, or potentially harmful behavior of others.
  • Outreach Services: Educational programming on a wide variety of mental health topics may be requested through the Counseling Center website.
  • Workshops: The Counseling Center offers a variety of free workshops on topics such as assertiveness, self-care, and sleep hygiene to JMU students throughout the semester.
  • Equine Assisted Psychotherapy: This non-traditional talk therapy approach is a hands-on, experiential process that helps empower students to find solutions to problems.
  • Wilderness Therapy: These programs are a collaborative effort between the CC and UREC and use adventure and the outdoors as the platform to improve relational and health coping skills as well as to build self-confidence and self-efficacy.
  • Self-Care Spaces: The Counseling Center offers two unique spaces for self-care, these are available to all JMU students; you do not need to be a client of the Counseling Center to use these spaces. The Oasis is a great relaxation and stress management resource. The Studio is a great space to engage in expressive arts.