Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is at the forefront of
the University’s efforts to provide professional mental health services to
all Penn students. The services provided by CAPS include therapy for individuals,
couples/family therapy, and group sessions. In order to have the
maximum impact, the individual counseling offered by CAPS is typically
short-term, with an average of less than seven sessions per student—50%
of students have between one and five sessions. (Students who need longterm
therapy are usually referred to high-quality local care providers.)The percentage of students receiving direct service from CAPS has steadily
increased (from 11.9% in FY2009 to 14.2% in FY2014)–which is in addition
to crisis management (increase from 1,337 in FY2009 to 1,636 in
FY2014), and contacts resulting from CAPS outreach efforts (increased
from 7,502 in FY2009 to 10,490 in FY2014).