Life can be stressful, and that stress can affect your mental and physical wellbeing. Finding ways to cope with stress in a healthy way will make you, the people you care about, and your community stronger.
MSU offers a wide range of support for your wellbeing.
Health and safety have a big impact on your success. University Health and Wellbeing offers programs and resources designed to help you develop healthy behaviors, manage your mental health, get immediate support in a crisis and more. Student Health Services, Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS), Health Promotion, the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities, Center for Survivors, and Safe Place — are here for you year-round.
The Student Health Services team provides preventative health care and services for illness and injuries. Services are available by appointment at Olin Health Center and in the neighborhood clinics. Neighborhood clinic availability varies by location.
Services include:
Radiology and pharmacy services are also available on campus. Registered MSU students are not charged for the first three medical office visits each academic year (some services, such as laboratory tests or x-rays, are billed separately). For information about these and other services, visit olin.msu.edu or call (517) 884-6546.
The Health Promotion department aims to challenge the health attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions of the MSU community through education, environmental management and harm reduction efforts so students can better pursue their personal and academic goals. Services include:
CAPS is committed to providing students the most appropriate available care to optimize your health, well-being and success. Services include short-term individual counseling, group counseling, medication, referrals to other services and more.
Counseling is free for MSU students. The first three psychiatry appointments are prepaid by the University for most enrolled MSU student. These appointments are separate from the three free medical office visits through Student Health Services, and counseling appointments do not count against either the first three psychiatry or three medical office visits.
For information about all CAPS services, visit caps.msu.edu.
Crisis Services are available 24/7. Call 517-355-8270 and press “1” to speak with a crisis counselor at any time.
If you are interested in exploring options to support your mental health should visit caps.msu.edu/schedule to schedule a virtual consultation with CAPS.
During the virtual consultation, the counselor will ask questions and listen to gain a better understanding of your background and unique concerns and needs. Next, CAPS will work to connect you with the most appropriate and available resources to meet your needs. Services could include individual or group counseling, referrals to other on- or off-campus care and more.
Keep in mind that licensing laws require many CAPS’ staff to provide treatment services only to students residing in Michigan. Consultation, referral and care management services are offered on a limited basis to out-of-state students to help you connect with local resources.
CAPS also offers outreach services such as:
College can be stressful at times, but have you ever been truly concerned for a friend? Would you feel comfortable expressing your concerns and motivating your friend to get help? It can be difficult to deal with these kinds of issues, but an effective conversation can help more than you think—it can help change someone’s life.
At MSU we want to make sure that we can all recognize signs of distress and know what to say if a friend needs help. Kognito for Students is an online simulation that lets you practice conversations with a virtual student, so you’ll know what to say in real life. You’ll learn how to determine when a friend needs help, how to talk with a friend who you’re worried about, and where you and your friend can turn to for help. To complete the simulation, follow the instructions below:
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact Kognito technical support at support@kognito.com.
If you would like to introduce Kognito to a student organization, or if you have questions about Kognito at MSU, please contact Dr. Sheila Marquardt: marqua36@msu.edu.
The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a confidential short-term counseling and referral service provided at no cost to MSU faculty, staff, graduate assistants, retirees, and their insurance eligible dependents who are located within the state of Michigan.
EAP’s resource page: https://eap.msu.edu/resources
EAP’s resource guide responding : https://eap.msu.edu/files/attachment/132/original/Resource%20Guide%20-%203.27.2020.pdf
Health4U’s Emotional Wellness courses page, with upcoming courses and webinars and such will be posted: https://health4u.msu.edu/wellness/courses
Health4U general courses page, which has all of the focus areas (Emotional Wellness, Food and Nutrition, MSU Moves, My Health, and Alcohol, Nicotine, and Drug Information (ANDI): https://health4u.msu.edu/courses