Mental health support at NAU

At Northern Arizona University, your mental well-being is a top priority. Whether you’re navigating academic pressures, personal challenges, or simply need someone to talk to, NAU offers a variety of resources to support you.​

Immediate Support

24/7 Crisis Lines

Free. Confidential. Always available. Call for yourself or for a friend.

• NAU Counseling Services: 928-523-2261
• NAU Police Department (Emergency): 911
• NAU Police Department (Non-Emergency): 928-523-3611
• Arizona Statewide Crisis Line: 844-534-4673 (HOPE)
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or text “Start” to 741-741
• The Trevor Lifeline (LGBTQ Youth): 1-866-488-7386
• Veterans’ Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

Mental health services

Located in Health and Learning Center within Campus Health Services, NAU Counseling Services provides in-person and telemedicine mental health counseling, crisis intervention, outreach, consultation, and referral services to currently enrolled students, faculty, and staff.

We provide comprehensive psychiatric evaluations, medication management, and follow up. We work with you to advise the best plan of care to address your needs.

Psychiatry and psychology are overlapping professions and often get confused. Both professions help people that experience emotional distress. Many people receive help from both professions. It is up to you where you would like to begin. If the clinician you meet with feels the other profession would be helpful, we will refer you.

• Psychology/counseling: Works with emotion and behaviors and treatment is focused on counseling, behavioral change, and psychotherapy.
• Psychiatry: The treatment of medical mental health disorders and often treated with medications.

How to make an appointment

To schedule an appointment, call 928-523-2261 or visit the Health and Learning Center.

Jacks Care 24/7

Jacks Care 24/7 offers free, around-the-clock mental health support to all NAU students. Services include crisis support, interactive cognitive-behavioral tools, a safe online peer community, and assistance with off-campus therapist referrals.

Jacks Care 24/7 now offers free:

• Interactive mental health tools
  • Welltrack has a number of tools and assessments to help with anxiety, depression, sleeping struggles, alcohol and drug misuse and many more. Students can access Boost though the Welltrack Boost website or app by using your NAU email address to create an account.
• Online peer support
  • Togetherall is a a safe and anonymous community of thousands of college students all over the world. Togetherall has a number of self-assessments and courses to help you manage your anxiety, improve your sleep, and balance your thinking, along with many other avenues of support that college students can benefit from. Join Togetherall by using your NAU email address to connect with many other college students like you.
• Off-campus therapist referrals
  • Welltrack Connect provides students with an easy-to-use tool for booking an appointment with an off-campus therapist. Connect ensures that students will be matched with a provider that fits their unique needs. It is a free website for all students.

Additional on-campus resources

• Health Promotion Office: Offers programs on stress management, nutrition, fitness, and more. Contact: healthpromotion@nau.edu or 928-523-2131.
• College of Education Practicum Lab: Provides free counseling services by graduate students under supervision. Located in the College of Education Building (27), Room 169.
• Let’s Talk Sessions: Free 15-minute consultations with licensed clinicians, no appointment necessary. Several sessions are hosted throughout the year at The Care Center on campus.

Community support

• The Guidance Center: 24-hour crisis services. Call 928-527-1899.
• Flagstaff Medical Center Behavioral Health: 24-hour services. Call 928-213-6300.
• Native Americans for Community Action: Call 928-526-2968.

Concerned about a friend?

Friends are usually the first to notice when someone is sad, worried, withdrawn, or irritable. Help your friend heal by expressing your concern and encouraging them to seek help.

• State your concern. Objectively describe what you observe in your friend, and express your concern.
• Inquire. Ask your friend what is wrong or how you can help.
• Listen. Listen without judgment. Try not to agree or disagree with their behavior, simply listen to them.
• Empathize. Communicate your understanding.
• Offer them hope. Encourage them to keep talking, and to reach out to others who care about them.
• Suggest that they visit Counseling Services.
• When to be concerned:  Learn the Signs | Seize the Awkward
• How to start the conversation: Conversation Starters | Seize the Awkward