USF Counseling Center - Tampa, Florida

Michelle McAveety

I have had good experiences with the counseling center. The intake process was not too complicated and I really feel like my counselor cares about me and has insightful advice for me. I have seen immense improvement in my life as a result!

Deliyanis

Kathleen was a great help to me. I was skeptical about trying the counselling center at USF but it is free to students. I was really nervous in the beginning so for the first two appointments I wasn't sure what my opinion was, but the more I saw Kathleen the faster I became comfortable with her. I never felt judged and she was really beneficial for my mental health. I wouldn't be where I am today without her. If you're considering trying the counselling center, I would say go for it but you need to try it for more than one appointment- at least 3. And if you don't like your counselor you can also request a switch.

William Cromwell

I saw my counselor on a regular basis for a year and she helped me better manage my anxiety. I also no longer have suicidal urges. It’s been absolutely wonderful and life-changing. My counselor helped me to change my perspective on things and have a more positive outlook! I’m going to keep seeing her.

Lisbet Alvarez

I just read one of the reviews that talked about how robotic the counselors are and it clicked...I was going through a rough patch around 2017, and after much self convincing, I finally decided to go to a counselor. I felt like I was very vulnerable with her considering that it was my first time 1)talking about it with another human being and 2)that person being a complete stranger. The counselors responses were literally read off from a script and ALL of her questions, she read from a paper with no genuine reaction to anything that I was saying. I'm fine and have never been back. However, I do think that this needs to be addressed because it's scary to think that kids with serious issues may come to them for help and walk out of their feeling worse about themselves.

Amber O

My therapist has been great and has helped me to try and find solutions to my problems. I've improved slightly since seeing my counsellor and will continue to see her. Minus a star because at the end of semesters they change to 30 minute appointments and it has been busy where I can't get in to see my counsellor for 2 or 3 weeks.

x x

I agree with the other spot-on one-star reviews... the mental health providers here are robotic and don’t treat you as an individual; they treat you as if you’re an incompetent child. I mentioned this briefly to the assistant director and she didn’t seem concerned which is odd to me. I don’t believe they truly care about students besides the staff assistant at the front desk Cody who has always been friendly and helpful.

Getting an appointment can take two to three weeks. If you have serious mental health issues they will tell you the most basic, unhelpful, cliche hogwash. If you are a student with very minor issues and no mental health problems you should be fine but that defeats the purpose in having such a diverse group of trained professionals. Somewhere along the way I believe they got worn down from seeing so many students and just started giving us all the same treatment. I would never go to a therapist who I felt was reading from a script. I feel absolutely zero genuine human connection!

Do not waste your time.

Breanna

The counseling at USF is literally a joke. As a first year student with nowhere else to go, I reached out to the counseling center. They told me that my problems were not something they could help with and that I should see someone outside of USF. Not only that but the counselors will only see you a maximum of like three times and then you have to tell your story all over again to someone entirely new. ALSO, they literally told me that USF counseling is goal oriented and mostly for “stress” or academic issues. Made me feel horrible about myself and now i’m left with nowhere to go.

Vladlena Gracheva

Don’t be surprised if whatever you say to receptionists will NOT remain confidential. Second time coming in here and figured out that a random lady at the front desk is aware of my mental trauma in all details (even though she was not here the last time I came in.) She accidentally told me that her co-workers discussed it with each other. That’s so unethical and disgusting. The last place where I’d expect my privacy get violated