About Us

What is CAPS?

Counseling And Psychological Services (CAPS) is a counseling facility operated by Florida Institute of Technology's School of Psychology. Its goals are to promote the best possible academic, vocational and emotional health.

Our services are available to students and their immediate families.

Confidentiality

In all cases, the American Psychological Association professional standards of practice are followed and confidentiality is respected and protected by law. Any limitations of confidentiality will be reviewed by your CAPS therapist.

CAPS is also compliant with the requirements of the  Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA)". Click on HIPAA for a complete description of this policy.

Treatment

Many different psychological treatments are available through CAPS. Individual, couple, family and group psychotherapy is available and approached from a number of perspectives. Vocational counseling, study skills training, personal counseling and assertiveness training are just a few of the many services available from CAPS.

Our preference is that treatment be as brief as possible, based on the initial evaluation and assessment. This allows us to focus on and tailor therapy to the individual person and the current situation. Cultural needs and issues are integrated throughout the process. CAPS therapists are supervised by licensed Clinical Psychologists.

Eligibility

Qualified students and their immediate families are eligible for CAPS services. These services are free of charge for up to 16 sessions with the exception of learning disability evaluations and psychiatric services. If additional service is required, these cases will be reviewed on an individual basis. To appropriately meet the needs of clients, referrals to outside agencies will be made when needed.

You should be aware of the following no show policy that exists at the Counseling Center regarding missed appointments. This policy is necessitated by our mission to serve as many Florida Tech students as possible and we regret any hardships this may cause.

Any student who misses two consecutive counseling appointments, without prior  notification, will be unable to schedule additional appointments with the Counseling Center for the remainder of that particular semester.

NOTE: The above policy does not apply to crisis situations.  That is, the center is always available during regular office hours to any Florida Tech student experiencing a crisis or psychological emergency, regardless of prior missed appointments.

Staff

*CAPS has a staff of one full-time Director (licensed clinical psychologist), one full-time Assistant Director (licensed clinical psychologist), a full-time administrative secretary, and approximately five advanced level doctoral clinical psychology student therapists.

James R. Oelschlager, Psy.D

Director, Counseling and Psychological Services

Dr. Oelschlager completed his undergraduate psychology studies at William Patterson College in Wayne, New Jersey. Following this he began his graduate studies at Montclair State College in Montclair, New Jersey and completed his Doctor of Psychology Degree at Florida Tech in 1987. He completed his internship at Fairfield Hills State Hospital in Newtown, Connecticut. He is a licensed psychologist in the State of Florida and has served as the Director of Counseling and Psychological Services since 1996. Dr. Oelschlager has clinical interests in brief psychotherapy, multimodal therapy, crisis intervention, developmental issues, learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders.

In addition to providing clinical services, Dr. Oelschlager is responsible for administration issues, and clinical supervision of the doctoral students from the School of Psychology who are completing their clinical practicum at the Counseling Center. Dr. Oelschlager also is very active with community issues including grant writing for Domestic Violence and Juvenile Intervention issues for the City of Palm Bay. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Serene Harbor and the Palm Bay Police Athletic League.

Robyn Coombs, Psy.D.

Assistant Director

Dr. Coombs completed her undergraduate psychology studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina.  She completed her Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology and her Doctor of Psychology Degree at Florida Tech.  Further, she completed her internship at the University of Memphis, Center for Counseling, Learning, and Testing in Memphis, Tennessee.  During her doctoral studies, Dr. Coombs received the Elizabeth B. Wolf Outstanding Clinical Student Award and an Honorable Mention for her graduate research. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, Florida Psychological Association, and the American College Counseling Association. Dr. Coombs has clinical interests in individual, group, and couples assessment and psychotherapy, as well as various supervision, outreach, and consultation activities.

Nancy Vargas

Administrative Secretary

Nancy Vargas has served as the administrative secretary at Counseling and Psychological Services since March of 2008.  Prior to arriving at Florida Tech, Nancy has worked for the Civilian Personnel Flt at Patrick AF Base in Cocoa Beach as a Human Resources Assistant. Nancy is now responsible for the day-to-day operations at CAPS and is frequently the first contact for students seeking services.  Nancy enjoys her position in the office and looks forward to assisting the student population.

CAPS Tour

  1. CAPS is located at 150 West University Blvd, # 264, on the corner of University and Country Club. When a new potential client walks through the waiting room, Nancy will greet them with a smile. The atmosphere at CAPS is professional but somewhat informal and relaxed. You can make an appointment with Nancy to see a CAPS therapist at a time convenient for you. Or if you prefer, you can call CAPS ahead of time to schedule an appointment and when you arrive a CAPS therapist will be ready to meet with you.
  2. After you arrive for your first appointment at CAPS, you will be asked to fill out an information sheet in which you will be able to provide some information on relevant issues on which you want to focus your treatment.
  3. The therapist will read the information sheet while you relax in the waiting room for a few minutes. He/she will then come and invite you into a private room for a confidential 50-minute session. The therapist will explain to you about confidentiality of information discussed in the session and then ask you what brings you to CAPS.
  4. While you converse with the therapist, he or she may choose to take notes in order to get a complete picture of what's on your mind. CAPS is a safe environment that has an experienced team of graduate level therapists who will be there to completely listen to you and will be there for you regardless of the issues you are working on.
  5. After the first session, the therapist will set up a regular time to meet with you each week or as needed.