Counseling

Counselors with TCC Counseling are professionals who hold a Master's Degree (or higher) related to mental health, pyschology, or another associated field. They are trained to help people with personal and emotional issues and concerns. Many of our providers are licensed mental health providers through the Department of Health (DOH) like counselors or therapists in private practice or other community mental health agencies. You can visit our Meet the Counselors Bio Page for more information about our counseling team members.

We currently have a team of 5 Counselors. Click on the "Meet Our Counselors" button above to read the Counselors Bios and get to know a little bit more about them!

Our counselors are licensed mental health professionals from a variety of different backgrounds eager to support your mental health, personal, vocational, and academic well-being.

The TCC Counseling Team: 

• Provides online and in person individual counseling services
  • Personal and Mental Health Counseling
  • Career Counseling
  • Academic Counseling & Support
• Facilitates Mental Health Groups
• Facilitates Workshops and Presentations related to Mental Health, Wellness, and College Success
• Offers online informational support about mental health and well-being through Wellness Wednesday Newsletter, Canvas + Social Media
• Offers resources, support, and consultation related to holistic needs of students
• Participates in outreach efforts across campus to help folks get their mental health needs met
• Teaches Human Development (HD) Courses for credit

• Online and In Person Individual Counseling Services are available based on student preference.
• Counseling services are offered Monday through Friday, from 8 am to 6 pm in Fall, Winter & Spring Quarter.
• Online counseling sessions will be offered using a telehealth platform called "Doxy.me." This HIPPA and FERPA compliant program (similar to "FaceTime" or "Skype") will allow us to provide you with confidential counseling. In specific cases with consent, telehealth counseling sessions will be offered via "Zoom" but with a unique link to each student. 
• All in-person counseling sessions will be conducted on campus in Building 7- The Counseling & Advising Center. You'll check in at the Front Desk and your Counselor will come get you at the start of your appointment time
• For counseling sessions, each counselor pulls from a variety of therapeutic modalities and techniques. To learn more about some of their modalities, visit the "Meet the Counselors" Bio pages.
• Workshops, groups, and other offerings will be noted below with the type of facilitation, time, and location to participate.
• HD Classes are subject to enrollment, but can be found via the Class Search function of CTC Link.

Our licensed providers offer free and confidential services to current TCC students. You do not have to have a diagnosis or be in crisis to work with us.

Due to telehealth restrictions and licensing requirements, we are currently unable to provide services to TCC students who reside outside WA state. We can provide resources and referrals to those students who don't reside in WA State. 

We are also able to provide resources, referrals, and consultation to staff and faculty, however, we do not provide mental health counseling for our faculty and staff population. EAP is available for that support. 

We all face challenges and obstacles in college and in life. You may have moments that are not easy to talk about such as personal challenges, mental health diagnoses, relational concerns, academic struggles, and career indecision. It’s difficult to focus on school when you’re feeling overwhelmed in other areas of your life. It can seem like you're the only one struggling with these issues, but you are not. All TCC students can access free and confidential counseling services from our trained staff in areas including but not limited to:

• Academic Challenges + Issues
• Anxiety 
• Career Counseling & Exploration
• Coping Skills
• Diagnosis Specific Concerns (though it is not required to have or be interested in a diagnosis to meet with us)
• Depression
• Identity Exploration
• Indecision + Planning
• Grief + Loss
• General Self or Identity Exploration
• Neurodiversity 
• OCD + Phobias
• Relationships
• Relationships to Substances
• Transitional Support
• Trauma  & PTSD Related Concerns
• Stress Management 
• Support in Navigating Structures/Systems of Care
• Veteran Concerns
• Suicide + Self-harm

Mission: The Counseling and Wellness Center is committed to offering proactive and holistic mental health opportunities that are accessible, collaborative, and innovative in addressing student wellness needs. These services are rooted in respect, compassion, and social justice.

Vision: The vision of the Counseling and Wellness Center is to enhance the overall wellness and mental health of our students across identities and experiences. We create space where students feel supported as their full selves to find success as they define it. 

The Advising Center helps students plan their academic goals, including what classes to take, when to take those classes, registration support, how to complete an education plan, and setting yourself up for transfering to other institutions. Counseling Services is place where a student can get support with mental health, personal, or emotional struggles, concerns, or goals. At times academic goals and personal goals can be intertwined, and counselings will sometimes provide academic guidance where appropriate. You should check out the Advising Center website for more information about their services. 

Both services are located in Building 7 at TCC and appointments for either can be made at the Counseling & Advising Front Desk.

Yes we highly recommend making an appointment to meet with our counselors. Appointments can be made by utilizing the TCC Counseling Bookings page, calling 253-566-5122, going to Counseling/Advising Front Desk in Building 7, or emailing tccpersonalcounseling@tacomacc.edu with your availability. 

Exceptions may be made if there is an emergency and pending counselor availability; but cannot be guaranteed on a walk in basis. If you are in crisis or have an urgent need to speak to someone, please refer to 911, Campus Security, or one of crisis services listed above including one of the 24/7 Hotlines like Suicide Lifeline 988 or 741 741.

After you've scheduled your appointment, the Counselor you booked with will email you Intake Paperwork and important Appointment Access Information.

We ask that students spend time filling out the intake paperwork before their first session as it helps us get contextual information and contact information so we can best meet your needs. 

This paperwork will also include information regarding informed consent, limits to confidentiality, and important policies and procedures. 

On your scheduled appointment date, we recommend you go the waiting room 5-10 minutes prior to check in. If you have not completed your paperwork and forms, this would be a good time to do so.

• For in person appointments, check in at the Counseling & Advising Front Desk in Building 7. Your Counselor will come out and call your name at the start of your appointment and bring you back to their office.
• For telehealth/online appointments, your counselor will send you a link to a virtual "waiting room." Your Counselor will let you "in" at the start of your appointment. 

In your first appointment, you and your counselor will talk about challenges and goals you have for therapy. Your counselor may take a history and gather context about your life and ways your mental health has impacted you. Together you'll work with your counselor to come up with a treatment plan that will guide your counseling work together. 

There is no fee charged for enrolled TCC students to access TCC Counseling services. Our individual counseling, groups, and workshops are completely free. 

If you elect to take a course for credit in Human Development (HD) arena which we help facilitate, those classes are charged based on current campus tuition rates. Please visit the Class Search function in CTCLink to see current and upcoming course offerings.

Typically, the length of a session is fifty (50) minutes but will be scheduled for an hour to help with transition time. In very rare cases, sessions may be made for longer based on your treatment plan but that will be worked out on a case by case basis with your counselor.

We don't have a medical professional able to prescribe medications, but if necessary, we can refer you to a medical provider who can collaborate with us or help meet the medical management component of your care plan/needs.

Yes we can help with career exploration and career counseling. We work closely with the assessments and other offerings on campus and can help folks process through or dig deeper into their results, thoughts, challenges, and questions regarding vocational or career decisions.

If you are wanting more support related to resumes, interviews, job searches, and exploring options and paths, we recommend you connect with TCC Career Center.

You can cancel an appointment by calling the Counseling & Advising Front Desk at 253-566-5122 or emailing the counselor you are scheduled with directly. (You can find our emails linked above with our names above near our group picture.) The earlier you can give us notice about the need to cancel or change your appointment the better please. Failure to communicate a need to cancel may result in a conversation about our No Show policy. You can see more about our attendance policies in the Counseling Policies- 2025-2026 PDF.

If the college is closed due to bad weather or an emergency, the Counseling Center will also be closed. If you have a scheduled appointment during a campus closure, your appointment may be cancelled. Check your Titan Alerts to stay up to date with campus closures and emergencies.

If campus is closed due to a break in the academic calendar or between quarters, counseling services is unavailable and we encourage you to refer to one of the emergency/crisis services or off campus providers (options listed above.)

If it is beneficial for us to communicate with others and/or if you'd like us to be in connection with other folks or providers in your life, we will ask you to sign a written release of information before we contact other providers. Without your explicit consent, we are not able to share information regarding our work together to uphold ethical guidelines, unless there are concerns of health and safety. 

In cases where concerns of health or safety have arised, we will follow our ethical standards which requires us to report harm to self or other people. 

We are also bound to HIPAA & FERPA guidelines, in addition to our ethical confidentiality and ethics. We take confidentiality very seriously. 

• TCC Counseling does have telehealth services available if students don't want to meet with us in person/travel. 
• SeaMar Gig Harbor Behavioral Health Clinic offers services including assessments, case management, individual and group therapy + physical health care and accepts most insurances including Medicaid/Medicare.
• LifeStance Health Therapists + Psychiatrists  in Gig Harbor - has providers who take a variety of insurances and offers both telehealth and in person options
• Olalla Recovery Center - can support substance abuse needs
• Gig Harbor students are more than welcome to use any of the hotlines, crisis services, and/or Tacoma resources that are listed above as well should that be more accessible for them.

We are unable to provide counseling services to TCC students who live outside the state of Washington due to telehealth restrictions and licensing requirements. 

If you are in need of out of state referrals or resources outside of TCC, please email tccpersonalcounseling@tacomacc.edu.

You can also consult with your insurance provider’s directory, or visit the following websites to find a counselor in your area. 

• Psychology Today
• Open Path Collective   
• Good Therapy 
• Healthline

If you'd like to request a presentation or workshop by TCC Counseling, we ask that you please fill out this TCC Counseling Presentation, Workshop, or Training Request Form.

This is a new model we are trying starting Fall 2025 to help to accommodate the requests and rising student mental health needs. We ask that folks make requests at least 30 days in advance, but the more advanced notice we can get the better able to successfully fulfill the requests. If we are unable to fulfill your request, we will work to come up with an alternative option. We appreciate your patience and requests for collaboration and will try our best. Thanks!***

For Fall 2025, we will largely be participating in classroom visits and collaborative events rather than our own individual offerings. 

Some of the events you can find us at are: 

• Various workshops in Fall PDD
• 9/22 Evening Resource Fair in Building 16 5-6pm
• 9/23 Evening Resource Fair in Building 16 5-6
• 9/24 OSE Resource Fair in Student Commons from 10-2pm

• Faculty & Staff: Students In Distress Chart (PDF)
• You can visit the Matters of Concern webpage to report concerns about students to our CARE/BIT Team. They can help connect the student with the appropriate supports and/or channels for their concern. TCC Counseling is part of the team, but not the entire team. If you have specific questions about CARE/BIT, please connect with Surtida Shelton (sshelton@tacomacc.edu) or Jason Parker (jparker@tacomacc.edu). 
• In case of an emergency or crisis that involves harm to oneself or other people or other health and safety concerns, please connect with Campus Public Safety or 9-11
• If you'd like to consult on the best ways to support a student you are concerned about or refer them to Counseling for outreach, please email tccpersonalcounseling@tacomacc.edu 

We apologize for any inconvenience we have. We try to get students in to counseling as quickly as we can. If you are using the Counseling Bookings page and nothing is coming up, please email tccpersonalcounseling@tacomacc.edu or go to the Counseling/Advising Front Desk in Building 7 and share your availability and what you are looking for prior to giving up. There is often availability somewhere (if classes are in session), the MB Page just shows 14 days at a time. So reaching out can get a spot outside of that range if needed and/or can put you on the radar in case there are cancellations to get you in sooner.

If you are in immediate crisis, especially after hours or during breaks, we recommend calling 9-11 or getting to safety. If you can get yourself to a hospital ER, they can also triage you for support and care. We have other crisis, care, and warm lines which are often 24 hours listed in the "I am in crisis or require more immediate service" section of the below accordion which can be useful. These are also listed in all of our email signature lines. 

 For folks who need more immediate counseling resources, especially day off offerings which we don't often have, we recommend:

• • Greater Lakes has Walk In Appointments available (253-581-7020)
  • Multicare Behavioral Health Access Center (253-697-8400)
  • Any of the crisis 24/7 emergency lines listed in the "I am in crisis or require more immediate service" section in the below accordion. 
• For folks looking for off campus providers, we also have listing availables in the below accordion in the "I am looking for off campus counseling" section of the accordion which are great places to start. 

If part of the issue in getting an appointment is you need more than our counselors have available (ex- wanting more like 2-3+ times a week) or a higher level of care (ex- medication management, detox, partial inpatient, etc), we have some listings available in the below accordion in the "I am looking for a higher level of care" for some of those resources locally. We are also happy to provide consultation and referrals should that be what you are looking for. We want folks to have the resources to be successful.