About Us

The Psychological Counseling and Adult Development Center

Orientation and Philosophy: Integrating the lives of graduate students.

The Psychological Counseling and Adult Development (PCAD) Center offers short-term individual and group counseling and psychotherapy, consultation and referral services free of charge to students enrolled at City University’s Graduate Center. The Center provides a safe forum for addressing identified problems as well as more general issues of effectiveness in work and personal life. Services are by appointment on a confidential, non-emergency basis. The Center also provides a workshop series entitled Action and Mastery , addressing a range of topics relevant to graduate students. These include stress and time management, procrastination, work inhibition, parenting, the imposter syndrome, public speaking, learning to teach and other issues related to the challenges of graduate student life as well as personal transition and growth. We also offer a series of structured individual consultations specifically focused on difficulties in completing the dissertation. The PCAD Center’s approach reflects a therapeutically neutral stance. We offer counseling and psychotherapy in a context that respects individual and cultural differences.
Apart from its availability during times of distress, the PCAD Center is a resource for individuals seeking to mobilize personal strengths, address obstacles to progress and explore alternative courses of action. We seek to engage multiple aspects of individual experience by promoting integration of the intellectual and the affective, personal and professional aspects of students’ lives.
We are continually looking for ways to tailor our services to the needs of the Graduate Center student community. These efforts include meeting with faculty, staff and students in order to learn more about their experiences and find ways to incorporate what we learn into the array of offerings we provide.