The Mission of Counseling & Psychological Services

The mission of Counseling & Psychological Services is to enhance the psychological well-being of the entire campus community and thereby facilitate the retention and successful educational experience of students, faculty, and staff.

This mission includes the understanding that the educational process is more than a purely intellectual one, and that the ability of persons to learn and do their work is connected to their psychosocial development and emotional well-being.

In order to fulfill this mission, Counseling & Psychological Services is committed to reflect in its own faculty and staff personnel the diversity of the San Francisco State University community.

In carrying out its mission, Counseling & Psychological Services has made a commitment to:

  • Empower students to meet their academic and personal goals
  • Address the psychological and wellness needs of the diverse students, faculty, and staff thus helping members of the university to learn, teach, and work effectively and with more ease and satisfaction
  • Provide mental health services to promote and enhance wellness, psychological healing, and/ or prevent psychological distress
  • Provide a safe space for addressing ethnic, cultural, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and other differences and their impact on the quality of individuals’ educational and work-related experiences
  • Employ a variety of means toward the fulfillment of the mission including: time limited individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, psychiatric medication evaluations or referrals, preventative educational programs, training workshops in life skills, consultation, and advocacy
  • Facilitate the exploration and resolution of developmental transitions and promote emotional growth among students and other members of the campus community
  • Provide consultation and training to faculty regarding the mental health and psychological needs of students
  • Educate, train, and supervise graduate students to provide clinical counseling to the campus community and undergraduate students to provide peer education
  • Engage in service to the campus community by participating in campus-wide events, participating in university committees and shared governance activities
  • Support the professional development and cultural competency of the Counseling & Psychological Services faculty and staff through continuing education and training
CAPS Zoom group pic Nov 2020