Emergencies:

If you are on campus with a mental health emergency, call AACC Public Safety and Police at 410-777-1818.

If you are off campus dial 911 immediately.

Your college years can be among the best years of your life. They also can be stressful and challenging, both academically and personally. If this happens, you might benefit from additional support, which AACC offers through personal counseling.

Simply defined, counseling is an opportunity to talk over what’s on your mind in a safe and confidential environment. Counselors are professionally trained, objective and unbiased listeners who can help you figure out what might be getting in the way of your feeling successful and happy. They can help you learn new skills and develop different perspectives in looking at situations, so that you will be more capable of solving problems on your own. Counselors often can help you:

• Manage stress, anger and anxiety.
• Improve self-care and wellness.
• Cope with grief, loss and transitions.
• Improve communication and relationship skills.
• Provide new perspectives for self-doubt, self-esteem and self-awareness.
• Identify self-defeating behaviors and thoughts.
• Explore sexual and gender identity concerns.
• Help you manage depression, suicidal thoughts and self-injury.

Services

Remote Counseling Services Hours

Monday-Friday 
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

In-person Hours

Student Union Building Room 203
101 College Parkway
Arnold, MD 21012

Monday-Thursday 
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Virtual Counseling and Resource Center 

If you need a private, quiet office to meet virtually with your personal counselor, come to SUN 203. This space offers a computer with a webcam to avoid Wi-Fi connectivity concerns.

Currently, it is available on a first-come, first-served basis (limited to one hour), but watch for scheduling options in the future.

If you have questions, call Personal Counseling at 410-777-7111.

What can we do? 

We provide free, solution-focused and time-limited counseling to registered students on campus, or in a remote setting using HIPAA-compliant video conferencing platforms. Students are offered three sessions per issue. Counselors may determine that it is in the student's best interest to refer to other community counselors based on presenting issues, availability, or overall student need.

Request a new or returning appointment for counseling.

You are considered an existing client if you’ve met with a counselor at AACC before or if you’ve requested an appointment using the link above. Once we contact you to schedule the appointment, we will send an additional link to complete the necessary forms.

Email: counseling@aacc.edu*

Phone: 410-777-7111*

*Emergency/Crisis – Due to remote access and counselors' fluctuating availability, if there is a concern of safety to self or others, call 911 or the Anne Arundel County Warmline at 410-768-5522 immediately. If you are on campus, call 410-777-1818.

Join a Stress Management Group

If you are interested in participating in a Stress Management Group for students, email us at counseling@aacc.edu

Stress serves a positive purpose for a growth mindset, but it must be managed or it can feel overwhelming. Group participants will be given an opportunity to talk with others who are impacted by stress and will learn where stress comes from, how we are individually impacted, and how to cope effectively with it. Participants will be introduced to a stress indicator questionnaire and learn various strategies for optimal long-term mental health.

A word about confidentiality

AACC’s counseling staff members are master’s-level, Maryland-licensed, clinical counselors legally and ethically required to maintain the confidentiality shared by students with few exceptions. These exceptions include:

• When disclosure is necessary to prevent serious, foreseeable and imminent harm to a student or other identifiable person
• When there is apparent or suspected indication of physical abuse of a child (either current or past, including disclosure by adults of their own past childhood abuse) or a vulnerable adult
• When required to disclose confidential information on the basis of a legal requirement

On occasion, in order to best serve you, it is possible that more than one representative of the counseling staff will have access to your records. While we do everything we can to preserve your privacy, be aware that there are limitations and risks associated with the use of communication using electronic methods such as email.