The Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC) is an AAAHC (Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care) accredited mental health clinic providing support through assessment and referral, group and individual counseling, psychiatry and well-being services to the students of UT Austin.
Professional staff includes licensed clinicians from a variety of mental health disciplines including licensed professional counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers. Staff also includes post-graduate clinicians in the process of completing their licensure requirements, as well as graduate students in the process of obtaining advanced degrees in psychology or social work. These clinical staff members work under the license of licensed clinical staff and are qualified to provide mental health services.
Counseling and Mental Health Center occupies nearly 10,000 sq. ft within the Student Services Building. This is the entire 5th floor of the building. Additionally, CMHC CARE Counselors (Counselors in Academic Residence) are separately housed within every academic school and college on campus. CARE is typically home to nearly 20 full-time counselors.
The concealed carry of handguns is prohibited in patient care areas at UT Austin, including those areas in which professional mental health services are provided. Because a significant majority of the Student Services Building (SSB) is devoted to patient care, the entire building is exempt from the concealed carry of handguns.
Healthyhorns enhances the health and well-being of students’ bodies, minds and lives in support of their academic and personal goals.
Compassion: Offering and promoting care, open communication, respect, honesty, teamwork and integrity for our staff and students.
Diversity and Inclusivity: Cultivating an inclusive environment that values and promotes the understanding of differences and enhances our ability to meet the needs of our diverse student, staff and trainee population.
Excellence: Providing evidence-informed, high quality and innovative healthcare, customer service, education and public health practice.
Fiscal Responsibility: Providing responsible and ethical stewardship of our resources while considering the cost of care for our students.
Privacy and Confidentiality: Ensuring the protection of students’ personal information is of utmost importance; all legal and ethical standards are upheld.
Staff Development: Ensuring an organizational commitment to the development of awareness, knowledge and skills as a lifelong process.
Student-Centeredness: Prioritizing students’ needs and well-being in every aspect of our work.
Student Empowerment and Learning: Offering information, strategies and additional perspectives to develop students’ health literacy and confidence in navigating life circumstances and relationships.
The Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC) is committed to the promotion and affirmation of diversity in its broadest sense. Our mission requires that people of every background be able to use our services with an expectation of respectful treatment. The professional ethics and standards of the various mental health disciplines represented at CMHC place a high value on the dignity and worth of individuals regardless of their gender expression and identity, ethnicity, race, size, national origin, immigration status, sexual orientation, affectional orientation, age, physical and mental abilities, religious beliefs, spiritual identities, and socioeconomic status. Therefore, all staff members and trainees, as part of their professional functioning, are expected to respect the dignity and worth of the individual, and to strive for the preservation and protection of fundamental human rights
A major goal of our agency is to maintain an atmosphere of respect and trust in which we feel free to explore and discuss our attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviors in relation to others who are similar to and different from ourselves. As part of our service and training mission, we require of ourselves a commitment to work toward the recognition and elimination of prejudice and discrimination, especially those kinds which have traditionally affected mental health practice. In particular, prejudice and discrimination on the basis of gender expression and identity, ethnicity, race, size, national origin, immigration status, sexual orientation, affectional orientation, age, physical and mental abilities, religious beliefs, spiritual identities, and socioeconomic status run counter to our professional ethics. Such prejudice and discrimination are detrimental to all services and practices of CMHC, and to the development of effective relationships among all members of CMHC.
We also recognize that the promotion of diversity can highlight differences in values and perspectives. Exploring these differences is crucial for an environment that fosters personal and professional growth. As we strive to educate ourselves and others about the mental health issues of a multicultural society, we recognize that an examination of personal privileges and biases and their impact on our professional work is best accomplished within a climate of safety and respect. Therefore, staff members and trainees are expected to support each other in exploring their individual privileges and biases, and in cultivating positive attitudinal and behavioral change in one another. This CMHC Statement on Diversity serves as a living document that guides us and reflects both our enduring and evolving mission, vision, and values on diversity and inclusion.
The CMHC is accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC). Accreditation plays a vital role in ensuring and enhancing the quality of care provided to our clients. Our clinical services and facilities undergo regular inspections by this organization. These inspections evaluate our compliance with predetermined standards, and we must meet these standards in order to obtain accreditation.
The Healthyhorns impact statements highlight the accomplishments made by providers and staff in University Health Services, Counseling and Mental Health Center and the Longhorn Wellness Center over the past years.
