General Information & Staff Members

Our Mission:

The Ithaca College Center for Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) promotes and fosters the academic, personal, and interpersonal development of Ithaca College students by providing short-term individual, group, and relationship counseling, crisis intervention, consultation, for faculty, staff, parents, and students, and educational programs to the campus community.

CAPS at Ithaca College helps create a healthy college community through its commitment to responsiveness and individual attention to student needs.  The Center provides a safe place for students to explore difficult issues, advocates for a healthy environment in which to live and work, and nurtures the development of the whole person.  Clinical services include short-term individual, group and relationship counseling, crisis intervention, and consultation for faculty, staff, parents and students. CAPS programs provide specialized services and are offered to address specific issues, to provide training and educational opportunities to graduate interns, paraprofessionals, and the campus community.

Confidentiality:

Personal counseling involves sharing sensitive, personal, and private information with your counselor. Recognizing this, laws and ethical guidelines require that all interactions with the Center for Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) are confidential.  Confidentiality extends to content of your sessions, your records, scheduling of or attendance at appointments, and progress in counseling. Without your permission, no one has access to information you disclose in counseling. 

Some Exceptions to Confidentiality 

For the vast majority of clients, no exceptions to confidentiality are made. However, there are some exceptions to confidentiality which you should know about before you begin counseling: 

  • The counseling staff at the CAPS operates as a team. Therefore, from time to time, your counselor may consult with other staff members or receive supervision from a clinical supervisor. These consultations are for professional and training purposes only and are aimed at providing the best possible care for all clients. 

  • You may request, in writing, that the CAPS release information about your counseling to persons you designate. 
  • If there is evidence that a client poses clear and imminent danger of harm to self and/or others, a counselor is legally required to report this information to the proper authorities. Appropriate medical or law enforcement personnel will be notified to ensure the safety of the client and the community. 
  • New York state law requires that anyone who learns of, or has strong suspicions of, abuse or neglect of any person under 18 years of age must report this information to the proper authorities. 
  • A court-ordered subpoena can require the CAPS to release information contained in records or require a counselor to testify in a court hearing. 

 If you have any questions or concerns regarding confidentiality, please discuss them with your counselor.

Limitations of use of e-mail:

Staff members of the Center for Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) welcome your contact.  We also value your privacy and want you to be aware of the limitations of the use of e-mail technology. 

Confidentiality is essential to the counseling process, and because e-mail is not a secure medium, we discourage its use.  Please understand that counselors cannot deliver a detailed response to your correspondence if it potentially violates your confidentiality.

E-mail is not an appropriate medium for personal counseling.  If you are seeking personal counseling, or wish to consult about a friend, please call (607-274-3136) or come by (101 Hammond Center) during office hours to schedule an appointment.

Staff members do not read e-mail on a regular, daily basis.  Access is limited to office hours.  Staff members may be away from the office for a variety of reasons, and so, your message may not be read immediately.  If you have time-sensitive information, please call or come by our office.

Staff members will reply to the address from which the message sent.  If you do not wish others who may have access to the e-mail account you are using to read our response, please consider other means of contacting us.

Finally, the College reserves the right to monitor our e-mail usage and may see your message and its contents.  If you have concerns about privacy, please call or come by our office.

Accreditation:

The Center for Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) is fully accredited by the International Association of Counseling Services (IACS).