About Us

We care about protecting your privacy. Counseling is most effective when you feel comfortable speaking openly with your counselor.

We abide by current codes of professional ethics, as well as by state and federal laws protecting your private health information.

No information about your contact with Counseling & Mental Health Service (CMHS) is available to anyone outside of Health Services without your written permission. This includes university personnel, parents, family members, friends, or outside agencies.

Forms

Clients Rights and Responsibilities is a summary of your rights based on the Massachusetts law called The Patient's Bill of Rights. It explains confidentiality and advises how to get the most out of your counseling experience. It is for you to read and to keep.

Informed Consent Statement and Confidentiality Policy contains a brief overview of what to expect from counseling, our Confidentiality policy, and provides us with your consent to counseling.

Exceptions to Confidentiality

If we deem it necessary to protect you or someone else from physical harm, we are legally obligated to take steps to help prevent the harm from happening. In a situation such as this, your counselor may need to contact your family and/or university officials.

Other exceptions

• If you provide information indicating child or elder abuse, we are legally required to notify proper authorities.
• In the event of a psychiatric hospitalization
• In the event of a court order

Student Eligibility

All currently enrolled full-time students and currently enrolled part-time students who have paid the Comprehensive Health Fee are eligible for services through Counseling and Mental Health Services. This means you are eligible for an intake appointment during which one of our counselors will talk with you about your concerns and make recommendations for follow-up treatment. Your counselor might also make a referral for outside treatment.

Fees

Counseling sessions are free for eligible students

We offer psychiatry services for a fee that is generally lower than fees in the private sector.

• The initial psychiatry visit is without charge
• Most medication follow-up visits (20-30 minutes) are billed at $90

Although we do not bill insurance directly, we will send you an itemized medical bill to submit to your insurance company for reimbursement.

Concerns about payment should not be a barrier to seeking needed services. Please let your referring provider know if payment of the initial fee is problematic.

Staff and Faculty

Staff and faculty are not eligible for services at the CMHS. If you are looking for mental health services, you have the following options:

• Contact All One Health, the Tufts University Employee Assistance Program (EAP). 1-800-451-1834 (TTY users please use Relay). This is a confidential, short-term counseling and referral service provided to employees without charge by Tufts University. It is staffed by licensed, professional counselors, who can assist employees and their family members with any type of personal problem. Offices are located throughout the U.S.
• Call your primary care physician or your health insurance provider for a referral to a mental health practitioner

WE BELIEVE IN DIGNITY, RESPECT, AND AFFIRMATION FOR ALL

CMHS Mission Statement
 

CMHS is committed to helping prevent and address behavioral and mental health challenges that may become impediments to students’ academic and personal goals.  Our diverse clinical team delivers high-quality mental health services to facilitate personal growth and wellbeing, and to promote resiliency, self-acceptance, and interpersonal effectiveness.

We value the uniqueness of each individual, recognize the centrality of culture and relationships in human development, and respect and embrace human diversity in all its forms, including racial, ethnic and national backgrounds, sexual orientation, gender identity, mental and physical ability, language, age, spiritual belief, and socioeconomic status.  We are committed to an inclusive environment in which we provide affirming care to our diverse student body.

In addition to providing direct services to students, we devote significant resources to outreach in the Tufts community, providing students with the information and access they need to prevent or mitigate crises. We extend these resources to every department on campus, and we provide extensive training and consultation throughout the Tufts community, assisting everyone who has contact with students in recognizing and responding effectively to those in distress. 

Safety and Respect

We provide a space in which everyone in the Tufts community can feel safe, valued, and respected. Our staff is seeks to promote and affirm diversity in its broadest sense.

Identity Affirmation

We recognize that mental health practices have a history of prejudice and discrimination based on sex, gender identity and expression, ethnicity, race, sexual/affectional orientation, age, physical and mental abilities, size, religious beliefs, and socioeconomic class. Such discrimination affected the way mental health issues were defined and the way people received care. Hence, we are driven by a responsibility to work toward the recognition and elimination of prejudicial attitudes and practices.

Staff Training

As the goals of increasing awareness and working to eliminate biases are ongoing processes, we engage in regular and ongoing staff trainings and discussions of bias and inclusion as they pertain to our work. In this way, we strive to maintain an atmosphere of openness and trust in which it is safe to explore and discuss all of one’s experiences and concerns.

Postdoctoral positions at the Tufts University Counseling and Mental Health Service (CMHS) offer clinical training in brief psychotherapy, crisis intervention, and community consultation. 

Positions are open to applicants with a doctorate in psychology; all degree requirements, including the dissertation defense, must be completed by August 20, before the fellowship begins.

Staff

The CMHS is staffed by clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, and psychiatric clinicians.  For further information about our staff and services, please view our staff page on the Tufts University website.

Fellowship Responsibilities
This is a full-time, 12-month position.  A work week of 35 hours (Mondays – Fridays, from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., with one hour per day allotted for lunch) is required, with the expectation that some additional time outside of these hours will be needed occasionally for outreach.  The position runs from mid-August to mid-August. Along with legal holidays, Postdoctoral Fellows receive one week of vacation time in December, one week during Tufts spring break in March, and two weeks in the summer.

Training
Training seminars and workshops are held throughout the academic year.  Fellows receive two hours of individual supervision each week from two different supervisors as well as one hour per week of group supervision.

Stipend

The salary for the 12-month fellowship is competitive and includes a full benefits package.  

Application Process

• Julie B. Jampel, PhD, Director of Training: julie.jampel@tufts.edu