What We Do:
Our mission is to empower students to accomplish their mental health, education, and career goals. The Elms College Counseling Center offers free, professional, and confidential counseling services to traditional full-time Elms College undergraduate students, provides consultation/referrals to anyone who isn’t a traditional full-time undergraduate student, and supports the faculty and staff through consultation groups and trainings. Many students utilize the center at some point during their academic careers. The counseling center is staffed by a licensed professional capable of providing services for a variety of presenting concerns.
Some common student issues are:
- Alcohol and substance abuse
- Anxiety
- Conflicts with others
- Crisis and personal trauma
- Depression
- Eating disorders and body image
- Family problems
- COVID Mental Health
- Grief and loss
- Homesickness and loneliness
- Procrastination and Motivation
- Low self-esteem
- Relationship problems
- Suicidal thoughts
Location/Scheduling
We are located with the Health Center at 15 Gaylord Street in a stand-alone brick house on the edge of campus. We are open 35 hours per week during the traditional academic year, from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Counseling Center utilizes an open access model for scheduling appointments. All appointments are available on a first come/first served basis and booked out no more than two business days in advance. To book an appointment, students should contact our administrative staff at 413-265-2288 to reserve their session. Students will have the option to choose between a 1 hour appointment (traditional), or a 1/2 hour appointment (check-in).
For mental health emergencies or after hours/weekends assistance
For mental health emergencies or after hours/weekends assistance, please contact CHD Crisis at 1-833-243-8255 (available 24/7) or 911.
Resources and Self Help Mental Health Toolkit
In an effort to support everyone in our Blazer family, the Elms College Counseling Center has worked to assemble this resource list and self-help mental health toolkit. We hope this collection of resources can be used to gain some relief and self-help. If you have found a website, app, or article that you found particularly helpful, we would love to hear about it! Please send any ideas to Nicole Sacco at saccon@elms.edu.
Abuse: physical and sexual
Active Minds
Active Minds aims to remove the stigma that surrounds mental health issues, and create a comfortable environment for an open conversation about mental health on campuses throughout North America. For more information about the Elms College chapter of Active Minds, please contact Jennifer Rivers at riversj@elms.edu.
ADHD
Non-medical strategies for adult ADHD
ADHD Worksheets
Anxiety
Worry and Rumination
The Fight Flight Freeze Response
Anxiety Worksheets
- Analyzing your Thinking
- Anxiety and Exercise
- Behavioral Experiments Negative Predictions
- Breathing Retraining
- CBT for Anxiety
- Coping with Stress
- Overcoming needle phobia
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation
- Situational Exposure Diary
- Stress and Anxiety
- The Vicious Cycle of Anxiety
- Unhelpful Thinking Styles
- What are Safety Behaviors
- What is Anxiety
- What is needle phobia
BIPOC Student Resources
- 44 Mental Health Resources for Black People Trying to Survive in This Country
- There’s no shame in taking care of your mental health (Video: TED Talk – Sangu Delle)
- Black Mental Wellness
- Innopsych (Therapists of Color): Allows students to filter by ethnicity as well as specialty area.
- Mental Health America BIPOC
- Mental Health America Latinx/Hispanic Communities and Mental Health
Body Image and Disordered Eating
Break Ups
COVID Mental Health Resources
- Coronavirus Anxiety Workbook
- FACE COVID by Russ Harris
- Greif and COVID
- Institute for Disaster Mental Health: COVID 19
- Mental Health Wellness Tips for Quarantine
Anxiety Worksheets
Depression
Eating Disorders
Grief
- Grief: Coping with the loss of your loved one
- How your brain copes with grief, and why it takes time to heal
- Understanding Grief
Grief Worksheets
LGBTQ+ Resources
Loneliness
- Loneliness in a nutshell (YouTube video)
Off Campus Community Resources
Off Campus Counseling Resources
The Elms College Counseling Center is committed to providing students with a number of resources both on and off campus. Attached is a list of local resources for students to access both in and around the community.
Massachusetts Behavioral Health Help Line
Website: https://www.masshelpline.com/
Phone number: Available 24/7/365 at 833-773-2445
Frequently Asked Questions
Procrastination and Motivation
Sleep
Social Anxiety
Substance Abuse
Suicide Prevention
- Suicide Prevention Hotline
- If you are thinking about suicide, read this first.
- Myths about Suicide
- American Association of Suicidology
- Suicide Resource Kit for Faculty and Staff
- National Suicide Prevention Life Line: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
- Crisis Text Line: Text HELLO to 741-741 or visit https://www.crisistextline.org/
- Trevor Project Lifeline (for LGBTQ+ students): 1-866-488-7386 or visit https://www.thetrevorproject.org/