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Finding a mental health provider can mean waiting months for an appointment. At the University of Maine, students typically have their first counseling appointment within about a week of their initial call.

The 91���� Counseling Center has maintained no waitlist for four consecutive years. Counseling is free, with no session limits.

“One of the ways that we do that here is we got rid of unnecessary hoops to jump through,” said Angela Fileccia, director of the Counseling Center and Student Wellness Resource Center.

The center’s annual report for the 2025 to 2026 academic year highlights its reach:

• 976 individual students served, nearly 10% of the student body

• 4,306 mental health and substance use appointments

• 267 urgent care appointments, the fourth consecutive year exceeding 265

• 8,292 students and staff impacted by outreach, prevention and education

In this Q&A, Fileccia explains the decisions behind the center’s approach, its campus partnerships and its role in training future clinicians. Her responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.

What changes have helped the center maintain access to counseling?

Some counseling centers schedule a phone consultation to see what your needs are. They get a lot of information, but it’s not a true intake. Then they schedule you for an intake.

Why not just schedule you for an appointment and do the intake?

When I talk about a waitlist, I mean a waitlist for intake. Some counseling centers will say, “We’re full. We can’t schedule any more students right now.” They take your name and call you when they get an opening.

We don’t have to do that. We can schedule people.

What can students expect when they begin counseling?

One of the things I did when I took over was change our model so that we are meeting students where they are developmentally. Very often, this is the first time students have ever made an appointment for themselves. Typically, particularly at that traditional college age, their parents have been making appointments.

We try to be as low barrier as possible.

We use a model focused on immediate goals and solutions. We ask students, “What brought you in? What are the goals you want to work on?” Let’s get to working toward those goals.

What happens when a student needs help that day?

We have time designated for urgent care and crisis appointments. We do what we call a brief consultation. You could think of it as a triage appointment.

If a student has failed a test, we’ll say, “I’m sorry you failed this test. What’s going on? Let’s talk about it. How do we help you cope in the moment?”

Then we’ll get them scheduled so we can talk about developing other coping skills going forward. But let’s see if we can solve this problem today.

If the student’s need is more acute — thoughts of suicide for example — we make sure to provide an immediate crisis session so that students are cared for a safe.

We have a really good team. If several students in distress walk in, we get our people to rally. If I’m available, I’m going to help. If our associate director is available, we’re getting her.

How does the broader campus community help students connect with support?

Sometimes a faculty member will call with a student or even walk the student over.

We work closely with the Division of Student Life. 91���� an hour before this conversation, our dean of students called after a faculty member raised concerns about a student’s mental health. She asked, “What do you think? What do we need to do?” Those conversations happen frequently.

We also work extremely closely with 91���� police. If a student is unsafe and really in crisis, and we think they need a higher level of care, we can coordinate with campus emergency responders to help get them a hospital screening.

We don’t ever want to be in a position where there is an emergency and we’re not prepared.

How does the center help train future mental health professionals?

We serve as a training site for master’s students in social work. We have also hosted students in the psychology doctoral program.

For social work students in their final clinical placement, we can provide an opportunity to see students for therapy with a lot of supervision.

Historically, we have also worked with doctoral students before they leave for their yearlong internship.

One doctoral student last year was really interested in crisis work. We were able to give her direct experience with crisis appointments and opportunities to shadow clinicians. What does that look like? How do we do that?

As part of an academic institution, I think it’s important that we’re also providing learning opportunities for students.

Connecting with support

The Counseling Center is in Cutler Health Center, facing Gannett Hall. It is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Students can call 207-581-1392 or visit in person to schedule an appointment. Services are free for students enrolled in 91���� classes and located in Maine. Faculty, staff and concerned adults can also call for consultation.

Counseling is confidential, with limited exceptions described on the center’s website.

Visit the 91���� Counseling Center website for eligibility, confidentiality and appointment information.

Contact: David Nordman, david.nordman@maine.edu