Eastern Michigan University

Information for Parents

Introduction

Welcome to our CAPS Parents webpage. Our goal is to provide you with information about issues, concerns, and other important information that will assist you in supporting your son or daughter while s/he is a student at Eastern Michigan University.

CAPS is located in the Snow Health Center. We offer a variety of personal short-term counseling, crisis intervention, workshop, and consultation services to EMU students.

Our Staff

CAPS staff are experienced mental health professionals. In addition to our professional staff, graduate students from the departments of Psychology, Social Work, and Leadership and Counseling are also available to work with clients.

Eligibility

Eligibility for our services extends to currently-enrolled EMU students.

Confidentiality

For the person seeking psychological therapy, privacy is vital for a successful counseling experience. As a parent, it is understandable that you would want to know about the services that your son or daughter might be receiving at CAPS. However, confidentiality in the mental health arena is a professionally and legally complex issue. Treating information confidentially means not releasing it to anyone outside of CAPS without written consent, including parents. Our staff keenly recognizes that this may be difficult for some parents; however we are legally and ethically required to maintain these standards of confidentiality. What may be helpful to know is that in many instances, students are more than willing to sign a release of information that would allow the therapist to discuss their situation or concerns with their parents.

However, for any number of personal reasons, there are students who are not willing to sign a release of information. In these cases, we cannot release information without our client’s permission, unless we determine that the student is a danger to self or others, in situations involving child or adult abuse or neglect, court orders or the subpoena of records.

Additional Resources