Embedded Therapists: Who Do They Serve? How are They Funded? And Where are They Housed? A Foundational Survey of Emerging Models

Abstract

With the rise in demand for mental health services on college and university campuses, counseling centers have engaged in numerous creative methods to expand services to meet these increasing demands. One approach within campus counseling centers, with promise, is embedded therapists. Despite the increasing application of embedded therapists, there is a paucity of research to inform the development and implementation of this innovative service method on college and university campuses. This study serves as a foundational survey of college and university counseling centers’ embedded therapists to establish foundational data on defining features of emerging embedded models. Data for this study consisted of 39 college and university counseling center directors who provided information on 105 embedded therapists via a Qaultrics survey. Embedded therapists differed regarding who they served, where they were housed, source of funding, and various other system-level factors. The results of this study are discussed regarding commonalities and differences across emerging models of embedded programs.