CAPS Annual Reports

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)


Fiscal Year 2025 Impact Report

Christopher Leonard, PsyD, LP, Director of CAPS I Thomas Skinner, PhD, Director of Research and
Evaluation I Ruby Ochoa, Undergraduate Researcher

Mission

Counseling and Psychological Services provides accessible mental health treatment, training and education to empower the WSU community and promote personal and academic growth.

CAPS Services Provided

  • Number of individual appointments attended: FV25 has 6,305, which is a 44% increase from 10 years ago and is the most individual appointments attended at CAPS ever.
  • Number of students using services: FV25 had 1135, which is a .53% increase from FV24 and is the third highest number of individuals to seek services at CAPS in a year.
    • Number of clients on a suicide specific treatment protocol: FV25 had 91.
    • Number of student athletes served: FV25 had 70, which comprised over 13 sports.
    • Number of WSU Tech students served: FV25 had 51.

FY25 Satisfaction Survey Highlights

  • Over the course of two weeks in the spring 2025 semester students who have been seen one or more times at CAPS were asked to complete the Client Satisfaction Survey (CSS) online. The CSS is then reviewed with the client to actively engage in addressing therapeutic alliance, treatment outcomes, and experiences with CAPS during the spring semester. CSS for spring 2025 had 236 responses. The results of the survey indicated high levels of student satisfaction with their experiences with CAPS and with their therapists.
    • 95% of respondents felt treatment at CAPS made their specific problem somewhat/a lot better.
    • 78% of respondents indicated that they are more likely to continue at WSU because of CAPS.
    • 95% of respondents indicated that staff at CAPS provided an inclusive environment.
    • 94% of respondents indicated that they would recommend CAPS to a friend.
    • 96% of respondents indicated that they would return to CAPS if they needed help.

Clinical Training/ Applied Learning

  • CAPS continues to provide applied training opportunities for both WSU students and students from other universities. During the 2024-2025 academic year, 11 of our clinicians were in dedicated training positions.
  • Due to the applied learning program , CAPS has been able to provide access to mental health services on campus. Our trainees provided 2,245 hours of clinical services in FV25.
  • CAPS has 15 dedicated training positions for FV26.
    • Training partners include WSU (Psychology Department, School of Social Work, and Counseling Educational Leadership and Intervention Services and Leadership in Education (ISLE)), Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, and Wichita Collaborative Psychology Internship Program (WCPIP).

Student Snapshot

Percent of Campus Served: 6.4% (n=1135 total Students)
Busiest lntake Times: September (n=200) & October (n=141) 
Avg Wait Time for Routine lntake: 4.82 business days (including holidays)
Gender:  31.1% Male
                53.6% Female
                1.4% Transgender Male
                1.7% Transgender Female
                 5.2% Non-Binary

                 1.5% Self-Identify

Race/Ethnicity: 9.3% African American / Black
                           1.2% American Indian or Alaskan Native
                          11.4% Asian American / Asian
                         15 .1% Hispanic/ Latino/a
                          0 .1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
                          5.4% Multi-racial
                          50 .8% White
                         1.9% Self-identify

Sexual Orientation: 38 .9% LGBTQ+
                          1.4% Self-Identify
                        51.6% HeterosexuaI/Straight
                          8.2% No Response

First Generation College Students: 39.8%
International Students: 9.5%
Care Team Approximately: 26% of students served at CAPS had an open CARE Team case in
FV25

Percentage of CAPS Clients Who Reported Prior Experience at lntake
Sucide Attempt 15.3%
Hospitalization due to Mental Illness 10.1%
Suicidal Ideation 39.2%
PTSD  47.5%
An Unwanted Sexual Experience 25.5%
Harrassment 41.1%

CAPS Staff Highlights

  • CAPS continues to receive funding from Kansas Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (KSBHCoE) to provide funding for trainees and applied learning students to improve mental health services in Kansas.
  • Due to WSU applied learning available funding, all applied learning students received scholarships for their service to CAPS.
  • CAPS partnered with Athletics, HOPE Services, and Ascension Via Christi and held the second WSU Men's Basketball Blackout Stigma game.
  • CAPS partnered with Athletics and HOPE Services and held the first ever WSU Volleyball Mental Health Awareness Match.
  • CAPS Faculty Fellow Program secured Thomas Skinner, PhD, from the WSU Psychology Department and Student Wellness Center to assist in engaging in scholarly activities within CAPS .
  • Dr. Christopher Leonard was the recipient of the WSU Wayne Carlisle Distinguished Service Award, and WSU Division of Student Affairs Transformational Leader Award.
  • Annette Santiago and Christopher Leonard presented Fostering a sense of belonging in the workplace: Bringing people together through vulnerability and joy at the Michael Tilford Conference on Diversity and Multiculturalism.
  • Layna Adams, post master's mental health counselor, presented CAPS research at the Southwestern Psychological Association conference in Little Rock, AR.
  • Layna Adams, Christopher Leonard, and Jessica Provines 's article Suicide prevention takes a village at universities: Eight key strategies was published in Psychotherapy Bulletin
    In partnership with the Psychology Department, Christopher Leonard was an author on the paper Psychometric properties of the self-as-context scale with a university counseling center sample which was published in Behavioral Sciences.
  • Christopher Leonard and Layna Adams 's article How to start your career with a boss who mentors: Recommendations for success was accepted to be published in the fall edition of Eye on Psi Chi CAPS expanded Athletics mental health training program by agreeing to be a switch site for psychology interns training with the Wichita Collaborative Psychology Internship Program (WCPIP).
  • CAPS successfully hosted the first ever Higher Education Counseling Centers of Kansas (HECCK) Conference in which multiple CAPS staff presented on their areas of expertise. FY24 CAPS Goals
  • Launch the Faculty/Staff Mental Health Therapy Clinic by summer 2025. (Delayed and will likely be a 3-5-year project)
  • Be a major contributor to the local workforce pipeline for mental health providers in South Central Kansas by providing robust applied learning experiences at CAPS. (Started and will be ongoing)
  • Secure and fund all applied learning experiences within CAPS with meaningful scholarships or wages toacknowledge the service to the university. (Completed)
    Secure sustainable funding to retain senior clinicians to supervise trainees and early career therapists.(Completed)
  • Increase overall student case management appointments by 10%. (Not met due to vacant student case management position)
  • Begin to explore WSU student at-risk data and counseling center utilization. (Completed)

Issues/Challenges Facing CAPS

  • Continued challenges with expanding staff members and trainees with limited space increases.
  • CAPS is facing low engagement in group therapy, with a need to identify and address barriers contributing to its underutilization.
  • Percent of clients endorsing Suicidal Ideation within 2 weeks of first CAPS appointment: FV2S had 39.6%, which is 3.7% higher than the CCMH (Center of Collegiate Mental Health) average.

Proposed Counseling Goals for FV25

  • Hire a Licensed Psychologist who can supervise postdoctoral fellows.
  • Solidify relationship with WSU Athletics with the development of a clinical training program within Athletics.
  • Expand research contributions with applied learning experiences within CAPS and by supporting clinical staff in their research/scholarly endeavors.