Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) has provided 24-hour emergency mental health services for many years, but as of mid-October these services have been expanded to better meet the needs of the University of Arkansas community.

The University of Arkansas has joined a growing number of campuses across the country in utilizing the services of ProtoCall, the nation’s leading provider of telephonic behavioral health services. More than 80 colleges and universities are working with ProtoCall to extend the services provided by their counseling center.

ProtoCall provides immediate access to CAPS services by telephone after regular business hours, which is an improvement from the previous system where individuals in crisis experienced a short wait time for a CAPS clinician to return their call. 

“Given that an after-hours call to CAPS may be the most important call a student has ever made, immediate access to a mental health professional is always preferable and can truly save lives in some circumstances,” said Josette Cline, director of Counseling and Psychological Services.

During the past year, CAPS received 1,458 after-hours calls, 65 of which were mental health emergencies. If a student calls after-hours with a mental health emergency, ProtoCall will directly connect the student to the on-call CAPS counselor for immediate assistance.

Along with 24-hour emergency mental health services, Counseling and Psychological Services offers mental health services that assist in reducing distress and promoting academic and professional success. CAPS offers short-term individual counseling as well as group counseling, crisis intervention, outreach/education programs, case management and psychiatric services.