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How to get to the CAPS offices

The main CAPS offices, where you might go to schedule or attend an in-person appointment, are located on the fourth floor of the Michigan Union (530 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109).

If you use the main stairs at the front entrance, you have several options for how to get to CAPS: a) You could continue up the stairs until you reach the fourth floor, at which point you would follow the hallway straight back until you reach the elevators and CAPS on your left, or b) You could continue onto the first floor and use the elevators located directly across the hall to the right of the front desk to take you to the fourth floor, at which point CAPS would be directly to your right as you exit the elevator. 

If you use the accessible side entrance (located around the right side of the building from the main entrance), you can follow the ramp down to the elevators immediately to your right, at which point you can take them to the fourth floor, where CAPS will be directly to your right as you exit the elevator.

CAPS also offers virtual appointments for many of their services, including the initial consultation and one-on-one meetings; this requires no commute, only a device, a secure internet connection, and a quiet, private space (if desired/possible). 

How to find private care using Psychology Today

Reaching out for help can be scary, especially if you don’t know what to expect. Unfortunately, it’s important to note before potentially reaching out and being disappointed (like some of us were) that CAPS is not intended for long-term care. If you have health insurance and need more intensive, long-term care, our experience has shown that it’s likely you will be advised to use CAPS primarily as a resource for finding outside providers through Psychology Today. The wait times for CAPS appointments can be long, and if you think this is likely to be your experience it might be worth turning directly to Psychology Today instead of going through CAPS as an intermediary. If you think you would benefit from having someone walk you through and support you during that process, though, CAPS could be the perfect resource for you. (Examples of this help could include explaining the website features or insurance lingo, how to reach out, questions to ask during phone consultations, etc.) If you don’t think that’s best for you, though, here’s a compilation of some of the advice we were given and have gathered from our own experience using the site:

• Insurance lingo:
  1. Note: all of these figures can be found on your insurance card, if you have a copy; if you do not have a copy of your insurance card and are a dependent under your parent’s insurance (under age 26, typically), you should be able to ask someone in your family if they have the information instead. If you feel uncomfortable doing that, or they don’t have the information you need either, try reaching out to the insurance provider directly.
     1. Deductible: The specific amount of money you will need to pay out-of-pocket before insurance kicks in and covers part or all of the associated cost of your visit. This number resets yearly, so if you reach your deductible one year, you will need to reach it again the next year for your insurance to kick in again.  
     2. Copay: When your insurance only covers part of your bill, the copay is a fixed amount that you will have to continue to cover out-of-pocket. This number tends to be significantly smaller than the original bill. You usually will continue to have to pay your copay even after hitting your deductible, at least until you reach your out-of-pocket cap or limit, at which point insurance should cover everything. 
     3. Coinsurance: Similar to copay, coinsurance is the part of the bill that you will continue to pay after hitting your deductible and before reaching your out-of-pocket cap. However, unlike copay, the amount you pay for coinsurance is based on a percentage of the bill, rather than a fixed number. 
     4. In-network: Finding a provider in-network means that the provider already has a contract with your insurance company. This normally means less work for you, as the two will communicate with each other directly about your bill.
     5. Out-of-network: Being out-of-network means your provider and insurance company don’t have any sort of pre-planned agreement. You may need to communicate with one or both of them to figure out if your insurance will cover the cost of the appointments, and you may need to pay out of pocket and be reimbursed later. You will likely be the intermediary between your provider and insurance company.

• Physical features of the website:
  1. Narrowing your search:
     1. Finding a therapist you feel comfortable opening up to is one of the most important parts of therapy. You won’t necessarily be able to tell things like personality from a Psychology Today posting alone, but I would suggest filtering your search by things like preferred location (for example, if you’re an out-of-state student would you like someone in Michigan or your home state?), gender identity, areas of specialization, insurance types accepted, cost, therapy type, language, ethnicity, faith, etc. Psychology Today allows you to select from these options and more, and I would suggest using them to limit your search to the best potential matches as quickly as possible. If nothing else, I would highly recommend you filter by your insurance, so that you can make sure you’re only seeing providers who will accept it (I would still confirm with them that they take it during your free consultation, though, just to be safe). 

• How to reach out:
  1. When reaching out to providers on Psychology Today, you’re offered a standard text box to send your message through. The message will then be sent through your email, and providers will respond to you through the email you provide. It can be uncomfortable to reach out to providers, especially if you’re someone who normally struggles with email anxiety. To try and minimize this discomfort, I would recommend making an outline for your message, which you can copy and paste into every message you send. This message should probably include:

Your name

Your symptoms/what you’re looking for help with

Your insurance (if applicable)

How to best get in contact you

Your availability for phone consultation

Anything else that feels important to mention

A sample email could look something like this:

Hello (THEIR NAME),

My name is (YOUR FIRST AND LAST NAME), and I’m reaching out because I’m interested in (YOUR GOAL), and after doing some research I thought that you might be a good fit for me. Some of my major presenting concerns include: (YOUR SYMPTOMS).

I was wondering if you’d be open to having a brief phone consultation to discuss this a bit more? My phone number is (YOUR PHONE NUMBER) and I’m available (YOUR AVAILABILITY).

Thank you so much for your time! I look forward to hopefully connecting with you soon!

Best,

(YOUR FIRST NAME)

CAPS will likely recommend that you reach out to several providers at once and schedule multiple phone consultations in order to find the best possible fit for you. I would recommend you to do this if you feel comfortable doing so, but it’s also completely fine to reach out to one provider at a time if you feel more comfortable with that method; keep in mind, if you do this, though, that the process might take longer.

• Initial phone consultation:
  1. Most providers offer a free 15-minute phone consultation for you to ask questions and decide if you feel you’re a good fit for each other. Having a list of questions to ask can help significantly lower stress during the phone call, as well as help you learn more about the provider to help you when narrowing down your options and/or deciding to move forward with them as a provider. Here is a list of some questions that might be worth asking (I would recommend choosing 3-5 and asking as many as comfortably fit into the conversation):
     1. What are your areas of specialization?
     2. How long have you been doing this?
     3. What is your therapeutic approach? How might I experience this as a patient?
     4. What are your professional passions? Do you have certain problems or patients that you prefer to work with?
     5. What is your experience working with clients with X identity?
     6. Do you handle your own billing?
     7. Anything else that feels important to bring up, given you and your situation — this is a big decision, so ask anything that feels relevant!

• Choosing a therapist:
  1. Choosing a therapist can feel uncomfortable, especially if you feel like choosing one means rejecting the rest. I would encourage you to remember that these are working mental health professionals, and they are likely very used to working with people with high levels of stress or anxiety; in most instances, unless specifically asked otherwise, it isn’t necessary to tell one provider that you’ve decided to work with someone else. If this is something you prefer to do, it can’t hurt, but if this is something that creates more stress for you, I would encourage you to prioritize yourself in this instance. 

Here are some criteria to consider when choosing your provider:

• Cost: Are you able to comfortably afford the cost of this provider?
• Insurance: Do they accept your insurance type? Will you have to pay out-of-network?
• Therapeutic fit:  Does their therapy style seem to fit with your expectations for care? 
• Personality fit: Does this seem like someone you could open up to and potentially work with long term?

An important disclaimer

CW: Abuse and neglect by health care systems, specific mention of abuse of Black people by medical institutions

Something to note here, in this larger discussion of mental health services, both on university campuses and beyond, is that they have not always been equally safe or welcoming places for all groups. Not only do barriers to entry exist that disproportionately impact those from already marginalized social groups, but many of these groups have also been historically excluded from or abused by these spaces — both universities and health care organizations. For instance: women; people of color; women of color, separately; Queer people; disabled people; and more. These individuals have historically been less likely to receive proper care or treatment for their mental health, and instead go under-diagnosed and under-treated. This is both due to failures on these institutions’ parts, as well as the mistrust they have bred from years of neglect and abuse. It’s essential to note that without the inhumane treatment and suffering of so many — Black people at the hands of medical institutions, for instance — and the advocacy of people like Dorothea Dix we would not have the understanding of medicine or psychology and patients’ rights we do today. The focus and timeline of this project was too small to adequately discuss these histories, but it’s important to acknowledge the role they play in shaping what we see and discuss today when we think about these institutions and how they continue to help or do harm. 

Future of University mental health services and teletherapy

Unfortunately, our group was unable to test Uwill, the University’s new teletherapy service, ourselves, and we didn’t receive any feedback from people who have used it in our survey responses. To speculate for a moment, though, it seems that this program is an attempt to address the long wait times and overall lack of resources that CAPS struggles with. While I think this is a good start, I still think there’s much more to be done, not just in this regard, but in regard to the service’s accessibility overall — for instance, they could begin being more transparent in advertising their services and what, specifically, they’re meant to address. Additionally, as one survey respondent mentioned, they could work to create resources that aim to prioritize groups that have historically been underrepresented and excluded from mental health landscapes. 

It’s hard to say what the future of teletherapy in general will look like, since it’s a relatively new phenomenon and very little research has been done into it yet. However, considering the way the world seems to be shifting more and more digital across all spheres, as well as the many benefits for therapists and clients alike, I have a suspicion that teletherapy is here to stay. On an accessibility front, I think this bridges a lot of gaps, and I have high hopes that, as it becomes a more established mode of care, it will become more and more accessible to all, ideally by centering the experiences of disabled and mentally ill users, as well as those from other marginalized backgrounds. 

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