The start of a new year provides an opportunity to reflect on personal well-being, refresh our habits and grow awareness of the many UC San Diego Health programs, services and resources for our undergraduate, graduate and professional students.
Below are brief descriptions of valuable resources that may be helpful in the coming year. Peers, faculty and staff who interact regularly with students can also use this list as a guideline to available resources. Follow the links to learn more about individual programs and services.
We are grateful to each of you for all you do to ensure UC San Diego is a place where every student thrives.
Online Peer Support
Togetherall
Togetherall is a safe, free, online mental health support community where students may anonymously connect with others who understand what they're going through – 24/7.
Triton2Triton
Triton2Triton is a supportive, online connection space where students may connect via chat with trained peers who understand what they're going through and can help with navigating resources.
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
CAPS provides no-cost, integrative, student-centered services that are designed to support UC San Diego students’ academic success, personal development, and holistic well-being.
CAPS services include:
- Culturally-sensitive, and confidential counseling services – including individual, couples, family and group counseling; crisis/urgent care interventions; and referral services
- Psychiatric services and consultation
- Tritons Rise Together workshops and community drop-in forums grounded in the science of optimal well-being and peak performance
- “Let’s Talk” – informal support sessions designed to provide practical strategies, information, and support regarding general wellness-related issues
- A Wellness Peer Education Program, nationally recognized as a model of best practice for empowering students to develop leadership and helping skills
- Mental health and prevention programming focused on stigma-discrimination reduction and community-building
- Innovative, self-guided technology programs that provide mental health at your fingertips
- Student mentoring and advocacy
- Outreach and consultation services for faculty, staff and university administrators
- Referral to off-campus resources for students who would be best helped by longer-term care, or for those with chronic mental health concerns.
All registered UC San Diego students may access CAPS services by calling 858-534-3755 or visiting the CAPS website.
Well-being Services via Student Health and Health Promotion Services
Student Health Services
The team of health professionals at Student Health Services is here to support UC San Diego students’ well-being by providing on-campus, holistic, preventive care, as well as treatment for illness, injuries, and medical conditions.
Behavioral Health
The Behavioral Health Services Team – comprising a Student Health Services social worker and CAPS psychologists/psychiatrists – works collaboratively to provide focused, targeted care (e.g., insomnia, anxiety, adjustment to medical diagnoses, stress management, etc.) as well as support with referrals to community resources, mental health providers, medical specialists, and basic needs resources.
Disordered Eating Treatment
Student Health and Well-being employs a multidisciplinary treatment team equipped to treat common co-occurring conditions, including body dysmorphic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Students may inquire about the Eating Disorders Treatment Team by calling Student Health Services at 858-534-3300 or Counseling and Psychological Services at 858-534-3755.
The Zone
The Zone is a lounge for student well-being designed to promote healthy, balanced living. In support of the eight holistic dimensions of well-being, it offers programs such as stress management workshops, cooking demonstrations, and crafting projects. Between programs, The Zone is a space to relax, hang out, study, and destress.
Visit The Zone in Price Center Plaza to connect with yourself and other students, as well as learn more about wellness resources available throughout campus.
Gender-Affirming Care
We understand that students who identify as part of the transgender, non-binary, or gender non-conforming community may be coping with a unique set of stressors and challenges. Student Health Services is committed to providing respectful, gender-affirming medical care.
Health Coaching
UC San Diego offers free, 45-minute coaching sessions with a health educator who can help students make simple lifestyle changes that support overall health, as well as personal and academic success.
Health coaches can address a broad variety of health issues, such as: weight loss, stress reduction, management of chronic conditions, improving diet and exercise, tobacco cessation, addiction, sexual health, and adjusting to life-altering health events.
Substance Use Support
UC San Diego’s Health Promotion Services team offers a variety of recovery, education, and preventative support resources for those navigating substance use/abuse.
Recreation: Promoting Physical Well-Being
UC San Diego Recreation offers activities and resources to help students embrace fun, manage stress, develop resilience, seek adventure, build community and enrich their lives. Activities include yoga classes, Esports and Sports Clubs, Intramurals, backpacking through the Sierra Nevada, learning to cook healthy meals, weekly Trivia Nights, being a lifeguard, and more.
Basic Needs
Basic Needs refers to the most essential resources required to thrive as a student, which include access to nutritious food, stable housing, and financial wellness resources. The Hub Basic Needs Center provides resource referrals and services for registered UC San Diego undergraduate and graduate and professional students.
Campus Community Centers
Campus Community Centers aim to build affinity among a diverse population of students, faculty, and staff at UC San Diego – contributing to the evolution of our socially just university.
Emergency Support
Triton CORE
Triton CORE is UC San Diego’s mobile crisis response team that provides compassionate, mobile crisis response, mental health wellness checks, and telehealth assessment for students facing mental health challenges, substance-use related crises, and other forms of distress.
Triton CORE may be activated by calling UC San Diego Police Dispatch at 911 or 858-534-4357.
CAPS Crisis Line
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers 24-hour crisis counseling services outside of operating hours.
The CAPS Crisis Line may be activated by calling CAPS’ main number at 858-534-3755, and selecting option 2.
Sexual Assault Response Resources
CARE at the Sexual Assault Resource Center provides violence prevention education for the entire UC San Diego campus and offers free and confidential services for students, staff and faculty impacted by sexual assault, relationship violence and stalking.
Supporting Students in Distress
Below are resources that support students whose academic progress or functioning in the university environment is adversely affected.
Triton Concern Line
UC San Diego faculty and staff members who are concerned about a student may utilize the Triton Concern Line 24 hours-a-day.
Referrals will be routed to third-party services for assessment, and then follow-up by university professionals (Student Affairs Case Management Services, Deans of Student Affairs, Assistant Dean of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs, etc.)
Faculty and staff may report their concerns about distressed/distressing students by calling the Triton Concern Line at 858-246-1111.
Triton Concern Form
UC San Diego faculty, staff, fellow students, and community members may utilize the Triton Concern Form to refer students for support.
Deans of Student Affairs
The Undergraduate Colleges are available to support students who experience challenges that impact their well-being and academic success, and the student’s Dean of Student Affairs is available as a resource to help students in distress with navigating challenges and accessing resources.
The Deans of Student Affairs can help in any of the following ways:
- Working with students to understand their needs and coaching students on how/where to access resources;
- Connecting students to appropriate College resources (e.g., Academic Advising, Residential Life, Writing Program, and/or Office of the Provost);
- Helping students get connected to College and campus involvement opportunities;
- Providing immediate connection to support services, including activation of the Temporary Housing Protocol and/or Emergency Meal Assistance Program;
- Connecting students requiring formal accommodations to the Office for Students with Disabilities;
- Outreach to faculty for students who need short-term flexibility for serious disruptions to their academics (including support for students who are in isolation due to COVID-19;
- Coordinating with International Students & Programs Office (ISPO) on behalf of international students who need support for visa issues or whose home countries are experiencing turmoil;
- Coordinating with Counseling and Psychological Services for student-specific workshops and 1:1 counseling; and
- Referring students to Student Affairs Case Management Services and coordinating ongoing support with their assigned case manager.
Student Affairs Case Management Services
In collaboration with university and community partners, SACM triages and addresses student distress that interferes with their learning, development, or success – by ensuring that identified students are connected to appropriate resources.
SACM does this via:
- Navigation of institutional processes and paperwork
- Collaboration with Undergraduate Deans and Graduate Assistant Deans of Student Affairs
- Basic Needs Resources and Students with Dependents consultations
- Providing insurance and resource navigations
- Assisting with Office of Student with Disabilities accommodations
- Offering long-term care and support
- Providing training to faculty/staff/students training to support students in distress
Non-UC San Diego Resources
Call 988 | Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide or having a mental health crisis, dial 988 to get help. Callers will be connected to a trained counselor at a local call center and ultimately routed to potentially lifesaving support services.
Call 211 | San Diego Database
211 San Diego is a free, 24-hour confidential phone service and searchable online database of more than 6,000 services and resources that are updated on a real-time basis, with Community Connectors that help connect San Diegans to the accurate information they need. 211 San Diego is the region’s trusted source for information and connections to community, health, and disaster resources. Help is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and in more than 200 languages.
Contacts
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
Phone: 858-534-3755
Website: caps.ucsd.edu
Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA)
Interim Assistant Dean of Student Affairs – Tamara Schaps, tschaps@ucsd.edu
School of Medicine
Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Affairs - Dr. Kama Guluma, kguluma@ucsd.edu
Skaggs School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Associate Dean for Student Affairs - Dr. Candis Morello, cmmorello@health.ucsd.edu
Balance is Key to Student Success
The balanced health and well-being of our students allows them to more fully experience the vast array of enrichment opportunities available at UC San Diego. We invite you to share these resources broadly.
