STUDENT COUNSELING SERVICE

Office Hours for Administrative Assistant
Monday thru Friday 8:00am - 4:00pm
Phone: 508.856.3220   Fax: 508-856.3036

STAFF

  • Ruthann Rizzi, M.D., Director
  • Alan Brown, M.D.
  • Paula-Ann Pricken, Ph.D.
  • Marianne Smith, M.D.
  • Lewis Wurgaft, Ph.D.
  • Charlene Paradise, Administrative Assistant

The Student Counseling Service is located in
The University of Massachusetts Medical School Clinical Science Wing 
1st Floor,Room S1-843

THE STUDENT COUNSELING SERVICE (SCS) provides counseling, psychotherapy, assistance with stress management, and educational programs on emotional well being for graduate, medical, and nursing students. People come to the Student Counseling Service seeking personal growth and greater self-understanding, as well as healthier psychological functioning. Many students using the service are people who want to cope more effectively with difficult or stressful academic situations, while others seek counseling to deal with broader life issues. Some students come because of more serious, troublesome, and/or chronic difficulties in their lives.

Students are seen individually or in couples' therapy with their partners. While short-term counseling is most common, it is possible, when time permits, for students to be seen for an extended period. The costs of these services are covered by the prepaid Student Health Plan fee; there is no additional charge to students using the Student Counseling Service.  Students are generally seen Monday through Thursday.  Day and evening appointments are available.

The Student Counseling Service maintains strict standards of privacy and confidentiality. Counseling records are kept separately from students' general medical records. No information about a student's contact with the service or information obtained in counseling is released to anyone outside the counseling service staff, including school or hospital administration, faculty, family, or other students, without the knowledge and written consent of the student, unless required by law or in the rare instance of an emergency situation involving someone's safety.

ACCESS TO SERVICES 

The Student Counseling Service is located on the first floor of the Medical School on the same corridor as The Office of School Services. (Immediately after School Services, go through the door on the right marked
"Stair 5" our office is straight ahead S1-843). To schedule an appointment with a clinician on the Student Counseling Service please call: 508.856.3220 or E-mail:  Student Counseling Services . 
Drop-in visits during business hours are accommodated whenever possible, however, we encourage you to schedule an appointment in advance.  *E-mail is checked periodically, we strongly suggest you call in for matters of a more urgent nature. 

If a mental health emergency arises, please try to call our office first. 
Outside Business hours please call the Switchboard Operator at: 508.334.1000
Request that the Director, Dr. Ruthann Rizzi, be paged at: 4261
If Dr. Rizzi cannot be reached, the operator will transferred your call directly to Emergency Mental Health.
(Emergency Mental Health Phone: 508.334.3562)

 LINKS