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3/18/2023- Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) will be open from 12pm to 3pm today for drop-in sessions. Please bring your student ID to swipe into the building.

 

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Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs

The Office of Health Promotion and University partners recognize the significant impact that substance use can have on our well-being. We offer students a wide range of opportunities and options to explore the decisions they make around alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use.

Attend Social Events

What are Hoos doing this weekend?  Students from the UPC and IM-Rec provide After Hours programming on Grounds, and the ADAPT peer educators advertise fun weekend events at UVA and in Charlottesville through the Wahoo Weekender email list serv.

Find Recovery Support
  • The Collegiate Recovery Program is a supportive, confidential community of UVA students, faculty, staff and alumni in recovery or considering recovery from alcohol or other drug use disorders. Weekly meetings and frequent social events provide a community of people who “get it.”
  • The Student Disability Access Center (SDAC) staff coordinates academic accommodations to foster equal access to the University’s programs and courses. Academic accommodations may include flexibility with assignment deadlines, extended time on exams, note taking assistance, priority registration, etc. The staff can also offer consultation to guide you through the process, and also can assist in screening evaluations for learning and attentional disorders.
  • In terms of sober housing, SDAC, in collaboration with Housing and Residence Life, may be able to make on-Grounds housing accommodations for students in recovery or students engaging in substance use disorder treatment. 
  • Orchard Mountain Recovery is not affiliated with UVA, but provides a range of recovery support services.
  • Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has numerous meetings each week in Charlottesville, and several are within walking distance of UVA. If you’d like to confidentially attend a meeting with another UVA member, please email [email protected].
  • Narcotics Anonymous (NA) has numerous meetings each week, and several are within walking distance of UVA.  If you’d like to confidentially attend a meeting with another UVA member, please email [email protected].
Talk with a Counselor
  • Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is UVA’s primary student counseling clinic and can meet to discuss your concerns or help connect you to online or on- or off-Grounds resources. In some cases, CAPS can provide short-term one-on-one counseling and medical/psychiatric evaluation services. 
    • Check out TimelyCare, a virtual mental health service that provides UVA students with 12 free counseling visits every year and 24/7 access to TalkNow, a service that allows you to connect to a mental health professional by phone or video within minutes.
  • This Charlottesville community provider database can search mental health providers by a variety of filters including substance use specialty, insurance, and services offered.
Receive a Formal Assessment
  • Students can receive a free and confidential substance use assessment at SHW.  Follow-up care and options can be coordinated based on in-person assessment results and recommendations.
    • Students can email Sean Sembrowich, NP, to find out more information and/or to schedule an appointment.
  • Addiction Recovery Systems: Pantops Clinic offers substance use assessments.
  • This Charlottesville community provider database can search mental health providers by a variety of filters including substance use specialty, insurance, and services offered.
Consider Stopping Tobacco Use

Meet with a Tobacco Cessation Specialist to explore tobacco goals, personalized quit strategies, and access over-the-counter or prescription medications that can help.

Take an Online Self-Assessment

 

Connect with a Peer
  • The Peer Health Educators (PHEs) promote awareness, provide educational outreach, and serve as accessible resources for fellow UVA students.
  • UVA’s HELP LINE is a 24-hour free, confidential, and anonymous hotline intended for UVA students and Charlottesville community members, supervised by Madison House. 
    • When you call HELP LINE (434-295-TALK), you will be connected to a trained UVA student who will listen to you without judgement.  You can call about any issue: from stress about classes, to your substance use, to grief over the loss of a friend.
Start WahooWell

WahooWell is available to any UVA student who wants to explore their goals and motivations related to well-being, sleep, stress, connection, and/or substance use.

  • WahooWell consists of an online survey and two follow-up, one-on-one meetings.  In your meetings you will be provided an opportunity to be heard, encouraged, and validated in a way that motivates you to accomplish personally meaningful goals.
  • WahooWell is a positive, free, confidential, and non-judgmental resource.
Join a Support Group
  • Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers a number of support groups.
  • This Charlottesville community provider database can search group offerings in the community.
  • Al-Anon is a fellowship of relatives and friends of alcoholics who meet anonymously to share their experience, strength, and hope, in order to solve their common problems. There are numerous meetings in Charlottesville each week, as well as online meetings.
Explore Medication Assistance

Prescription medications can be an important resource for treating mental health and substance use disorders. Medications can provide significant relief for many people and help manage symptoms to the point where people can use other strategies to pursue recovery. Medication tends to be most effective when used in combination with counseling or therapy.

  • Psychiatry: Students participating in individual or group psychotherapy at CAPS may be referred for psychiatric services
    • CAPS psychiatry services are often brief in nature, and students may be referred to ongoing medication management in the Charlottesville community. 
    • Northridge Psychiatric Services includes licensed and qualified residents who specialize in psychiatry and are supervised by an attending psychiatrist.
  • Nicotine-Specific Medication Assistance: Over-the-counter and prescription medications to assist with tobacco cessation can be discussed with a Tobacco Cessation Specialist.
  • Medication-Assisted Recovery:
    • Northridge Psychiatric Services is comprised of licensed and qualified residents who specialize in psychiatry and are supervised by an attending psychiatrist. This location also offers substance use medication-assisted recovery.
    • Addiction Recovery Systems: Pantops Clinic offers Methadone and Suboxone (a combination of Buprenorphine and Naloxone) medication-assisted recovery, as well as outpatient counseling and substance use assessments.
Discuss Questions or Concerns

Still have questions or need some consultation for yourself or about someone else??  That’s okay!  We’re here to help.  You can contact any of the following:

 

Students, friends, family, faculty, staff, and other providers can confidentially consult with any of the above resources.

The Substance Use Disorders Treatment and Consultation Team offers coordinated assessment, consultation, and outpatient medical and psychological treatment, as well as assistance in accessing alternative resources, such as longer term treatment in the community or residential care.

 

Online Resources

Helping a Friend: