You’re still making it to class and still saying “fine,” but the knot in your chest hasn’t loosened since the semester started. Maybe you’ve wondered whether this is bad enough to count. It counts. Mental health support for Georgetown students comes from more places than most people realize: CAPS counseling on campus, therapists a shuttle ride away, and crisis lines that answer at any hour.
In the 2024-2025 Healthy Minds Study, which reached more than 84,000 students at 135 colleges, 37% reported moderate-to-severe depression symptoms and 32% reported moderate-to-severe anxiety. A national survey of more than 9,000 US adults found that three out of four people who ever have a mental health condition first had it by age 24. That puts college right in the window for early help. If you’re in crisis right now, call or text 988, or call CAPS at 202-687-6985 (after hours, press 1).
What Georgetown Students Are Carrying Right Now
Some of the weight is obvious: grades, academic performance and the comparison that starts the first week, when everyone seems to have founded something already. Some of it is quieter: feeling like you got in by mistake. Evidence suggests imposter feelings are common from the teen years through late career, and they often travel with anxiety and depression. Estimates of how common they are vary widely.
Financial stress, from loans to rent, adds its own weight. Relationship challenges, from a breakup to a roommate who stopped talking to you, follow you into the library. Family pressure doesn’t stay home. Many students also stack classes on top of an internship on the Hill or at a federal agency.
And there’s loneliness, even in a full dorm. In the same Healthy Minds survey, about half of college students (52%) reported high loneliness.
Some students tell us they waited because things weren’t bad enough yet. They were still going to class and still answering texts. To us, that can be a good time to start. Therapy can go better when there’s energy left to work with, and you don’t need a crisis to begin.
Life transitions pile on top of all this: the first year away, a semester abroad, the run-up to graduation. In our experience, sleep often slips first and grades slip last, which makes it easy to tell yourself you’re fine.
Georgetown Counseling on Campus: How CAPS Works
Most Georgetown University mental health services run through one counseling center, Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS). Georgetown calls CAPS “the primary mental health provider on campus.” All enrolled students are eligible for services at the Hilltop Campus. Law students have their own CAPS office on the Capitol Campus, also free.
The services offered include individual and group therapy, psychiatry, workshops, same-day crisis help and referrals. All CAPS services are free, including psychiatry. Care usually starts with triage, a short first conversation about what’s going on and what kind of help fits. The CAPS website has current hours, locations and how to book.
CAPS clinicians are generalists, used to what college students bring in most: depression, anxiety, academic worries, relationships, family issues and identity questions.
CAPS works on a brief treatment model. That means focused, shorter-term work on the concern that brought you in, rather than open-ended weekly therapy. CAPS clinicians can see you by video only while you’re physically in DC, Maryland or Virginia. Outside that area, Georgetown offers telehealth services through an outside partner, including counseling and 24/7 on-demand support.
Addiction counseling for drinking or drug use
CAPS handles most mental health care on campus. For addiction counseling, start with Health Education Services. Any Georgetown student can get free, confidential, judgment-free counseling there about their own drinking or drug use or a friend’s.
When Off-Campus Therapy Makes Sense
CAPS is a good first stop, and for many students it meets their mental health needs. Georgetown University’s own referral page explains when to look further.
What Georgetown says off-campus care adds
According to Georgetown, off-campus care gives you more flexibility to see a therapist “for as long as you need or want.” You may have more scheduling options, including evenings and weekends. The wait to begin may also be shorter.
Specialized programs provide intensive outpatient and inpatient treatment for eating disorders and substance use disorders. Comprehensive testing, psychological or educational, happens off campus too. CAPS can help you connect with an off-campus provider “regardless of your insurance.”
Finding therapy for college students near campus
The relationship with your therapist matters more than many people expect. A review of 295 studies, with more than 30,000 patients, found that therapy goes better when the working relationship is strong, whatever the approach. Psychodynamic therapy, interpersonal therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) are all sound therapeutic approaches. What to look for is someone you can talk to honestly.
Psychologists, licensed professional counselors and clinical social workers all provide talk therapy, including counseling for depression and anxiety. Most therapists expect questions before you book, and these questions to ask a new therapist are a good start.
Our office is in Dupont Circle, directly above the Dupont Circle Metro. Georgetown’s GUTS Dupont Circle shuttle stops a short walk away.
We also offer sessions by secure video across DC, Maryland and Virginia. Many of our psychologists can see you in other states, too, through PSYPACT, an interstate agreement. If you’d like to keep the same therapist over the summer, ask about it before you start.
In our view, continuity can be a quieter benefit of seeing someone off campus. The same therapist may stay with you from one hard semester to the next, and past graduation if you stay in the area. The work can go deeper when you don’t have to retell your story every time the calendar turns.
Open-ended work also leaves room for relationship issues and personal growth, not only getting through the week.
Group therapy is worth a look, too. CAPS runs groups, and so do some private practices in DC. Hearing other people name the same worry can ease some of the shame.
Want therapy that can last past the semester?
Our Dupont Circle therapists work with college and graduate students in person and by secure video across DC, Maryland and Virginia.
Not sure which route fits? A CAPS triage appointment can help you sort it out.
How Out-of-Network Billing Works for Students
An in-network therapist has agreed on a set rate with your insurer. An out-of-network therapist hasn’t. As Georgetown’s insurance guide explains, you pay the full fee up front, and your plan reimburses part of it. Some plans reimburse up to 80% once the deductible is met.
Many therapists in Washington, DC, including ours, are out of network. We file out-of-network claims for you electronically, and a superbill (an itemized receipt of your sessions) also appears in your client portal each month.
Before you start, call your insurer and ask:
- What’s my deductible, and how much of it have I met this year?
- Does my plan cover out-of-network mental health care?
- After the deductible, what share of the fee do you pay back? (The share you still pay yourself is called coinsurance.)
- Is there a limit on therapy sessions per year?
- Do I need preauthorization before I start?
The same questions work on your parents’ plan or Georgetown’s student health insurance. Our article on how out-of-network benefits work goes deeper.
If cost is what’s in the way, start with CAPS, which is free. Off campus, the Capital Therapy Project, a lower-fee training clinic our practice founded, is one place to look. The DC Access HelpLine (1-888-793-4357) connects DC residents to public mental health services.
Stress Management Between Classes and Sessions
Coping skills won’t replace care for bigger mental health challenges, but they make daily life easier while you find it. Start with sleep. Across 65 trials, people whose sleep improved felt better, with less depression, anxiety and stress, and bigger sleep gains brought bigger mental health gains.
Movement helps, too. A large review of exercise research in adults found that regular physical activity brought moderate improvement in depression, anxiety and distress.
Then there’s connection. One standing plan a week beats a promise to hang out sometime. And lower the bar on perfect.
Some ideas from therapy travel well. ACT helps you take one small step toward what matters while the worry is still loud. Psychodynamic therapy looks at patterns, like why a professor’s silence can sting the way a parent’s once did.
If the knot hasn’t loosened after a couple of weeks, or things get worse at any point, that’s a reason to talk to someone now.
The first few sessions can feel lighter than many students expect. We’ve noticed that giving the hard stuff a set time each week tends to keep it from spilling into every other hour. Talks with friends and parents may go better, too, because they no longer have to carry all of it.
Habits and therapy aren’t either-or. Each one makes the other easier to keep up.
If You or a Friend Is in a Mental Health Crisis
If you’re looking for a Georgetown mental health crisis center, start with Counseling and Psychiatric Services. CAPS sees students in crisis the same day during business hours: call 202-687-6985 and tell the receptionist you’re in crisis. After hours, call the same number and press 1 to reach a crisis counselor.
Numbers to save in your phone now
- Immediate danger: call 911 for emergency services, or go to the nearest emergency room.
- CAPS: 202-687-6985. After hours, press 1 for a crisis counselor.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988.
- Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741.
- The Trevor Project, for LGBTQ+ young people: 1-866-488-7386, or text START to 678-678.
- RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-4673.
- DC Access HelpLine, which can send mobile crisis teams: 1-888-793-4357.
For campus emergency numbers, including GERMS and campus police, see Georgetown’s emergency page. If a number doesn’t connect, call or text 988.
How to help a friend who is struggling
Take any talk of suicide or self-harm seriously. Research shows that asking about suicide does not put the idea in someone’s head, and talking about it may bring relief.
Ask Directly About Suicide
Stay With Them
Connect Them to Help Now
Keep Checking In
Once the crisis passes, a clinician can help your friend make a written safety plan: warning signs, ways to cope, people to call and steps to stay safe. In a review of six studies of people at risk of suicide, those with a safety plan were less likely to act on suicidal thoughts. The plan didn’t make the thoughts go away.
Look after yourself, too. Supporting a friend through a crisis is heavy, and the 988 Lifeline also takes calls from people worried about someone else.
Taking the First Step
If something feels off, start with whichever of these mental health resources is easiest: a CAPS triage appointment, a friend you trust, or a therapist off campus. You don’t need the right words. “I haven’t felt like myself” is enough to begin.
We’ve worked with students from colleges and universities across the DC area. You can read more about our therapy for college and graduate students. Your first appointment is a full session of 45 to 50 minutes.
Start wherever feels easiest
If this semester feels heavier than it should, you don't have to sort it out alone. You can meet in Dupont Circle or by video, whichever is easier for you.
Last updated: October 2026
This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or mental health advice. Always consult with a qualified mental health professional for personalized guidance regarding your specific situation.
