Psychiatric Hospitalization & Resources
Overview
If you or your loved one have been admitted to the hospital, you may have many questions or concerns. This webpage offers resources to help you navigate the process, as well as aid you in considering how an inpatient stay fits into an effective and holistic treatment plan.
Caltech Counseling Services' first priority is to work collaboratively with the student to ensure that they are safe and can engage in treatment to facilitate stabilization and a pathway to recovery.
Our goal is to help students engage in treatment that is commensurate with their needs, co-create a plan that will restore students' level of functioning and preserve agency, in order facilitate reintegration into the campus environment. The partnership between the student, the inpatient treatment team, Student Wellness Services, the Deans' office, and the student's family and/or social supports is critical to the success of the inpatient stay and transition to aftercare.
We recognize that this can be an incredibly stressful experience, and we encourage all parties to ask thoughtful questions, advocate for themselves, and take an active role in treatment. We welcome your feedback and collaboration in this process.
Most hospitalizations are voluntary, which means that the student and their treatment provider agree that inpatient care is necessary to meet specific goals of stabilization and ensuring immediate safety. Sometimes students are unwilling to enter the hospital voluntarily, but inpatient care is mandated after an assessment.
Inpatient hospitalization may be clinically necessary or helpful when the intensity or severity of a student's mental health concerns significantly impair their ability to stay safe or function. This may include situations such as:
- Feeling suicidal and unable to commit to a safety plan or keep yourself safe
- Having strong urges or thoughts of harming yourself or others
- Using drugs or alcohol at a level that is dangerous or feels out of control
- Experiencing extreme stress, emotional distress, or loss of control to the point where you can't care for your basic needs (e.g., sleeping, eating, hygiene)
- Having severe or distressing unusual experiences, such as hallucinations or delusions
- Feeling so emotionally overwhelmed or mentally unwell that it becomes very difficult to function in daily life or academics
Hospitalization provides an opportunity to begin stabilizing a crisis situation. The hospital provides a safe, supportive environment where you can begin to understand what led to the need for hospitalization and to make a plan for your outpatient care.
What to Expect Before and During a Hospital Stay
Because each student's insurance benefits and situation are different, Caltech cannot provide an estimate of the hospital stay cost. The hospital business office will work with your health insurance provider to determine what they will cover, and what you will be financially responsible for. It is best practice to have a copy of your insurance information and/or card with you.
If you are on your parents' health insurance plan, they will most likely become aware that you were admitted to the hospital. It is useful to think in advance about how you want to communicate with them about this. Talk to your therapist or psychiatrist about ways other students have managed these types of conversations if you feel reluctant initiating this conversation.
If you are enrolled in Caltech's medical plan, you can contact the Caltech Anthem Concierge for help with reviewing and explaining claims and benefits: [email protected]
To ensure privacy, the hospital will use an access control system to protect your personal information. If someone were to call the hospital and ask to speak with you, the staff are not able to confirm or deny that you are there without your permission. Some facilities require a PIN code, and others require a signed form. Just know that without authorization, others will not be able to call you, visit you, or maintain communications with you. Cell phones are not allowed in most facilities, but each unit has a community telephone that can be accessed.
Although it is your choice as to who to give your access code to, it is important to share your access code with your therapist. This way, they can call you and help coordinate your care without difficulty.
If you want hospital staff to share information with Caltech staff or support people in your life, you will need to fill out a release of information form with the hospital.
Similarly, Caltech's Counseling Services will be unable to relay information to parents, campus partners, and friends without a signed release form.
For many Caltech students who enter the hospital, their most important priority is getting back to their academic work. It can be very useful to involve one of the Deans soon after being at the hospital so that they can help navigate your academic responsibilities. The Dean may help:
- Inform your professors or faculty advisor that you will temporarily be absent (they won't tell faculty that you're in the hospital unless you request it)
- Request extensions for work that you may miss while you are in the hospital
What to Expect After a Hospital Stay
Upon your return to campus, you will meet with a clinician at Counseling Services for a post-hospitalization needs assessment meeting. This meeting is to help you identify and understand what led to the hospitalization and to discuss a treatment plan moving forward. It's an important opportunity to make specific plans about counseling, psychiatric visits, and your academics.
Remember that being in the hospital usually means that the status quo was not adequately meeting all your needs and that something will need to be different as you move forward. One of the most common ways of addressing this is through ongoing counseling or therapy. If you were already in counseling, it will be important to talk with your therapist about making any necessary changes in your work together. Sometimes this means meeting more frequently, changing the focus of your work together, or sometimes even changing therapists to someone who has a specialty in the concerns you've been dealing with. Sometimes it may mean that longer-term therapy or more intensive therapy with a community provider may be useful; you and your therapist can talk about these options as well.
After your post-hospitalization meeting with Counseling Services, you'll meet with the Dean or Associate Dean in the Deans' Office to address academic concerns during and after the hospitalization. Some students want to continue their normal routine and return to their work as soon as possible. Sometimes this is possible with continued support through being in counseling, seeing a psychiatrist, increasing the frequency of counseling sessions, or following other hospital recommendations. Sometimes it makes sense to reduce your course load or workload so that you can move forward with less stress. There are several options that you may have - and they are all based on the idea that something will need to be different as you move forward. The Dean can talk with you about which options make sense for you.
Sometimes, a student may need time away to reassess and recalibrate after a hospitalization, and a medical leave can provide this time. A medical leave lets you temporarily withdraw from Caltech so that you can focus on pursuing medical treatment without the additional pressure of classes or other academic responsibilities. If you would like to learn more about a medical leave, please start a conversation with the Deans Office and follow-up with Student Wellness Services through a medical leave administrative appointment.
Resources
Las Encinas Hospital
- 2900 E. Del Mar Boulevard Pasadena, CA 91107
- (626) 795-9901
- www.LasEncinasHospital.com
Huntington Hospital
- 100 W. California Boulevard Pasadena, CA 91105
- Emergency Room: (626) 397-5111
- General Line: (626) 397-5000
- www.HuntingtonHealth.org
Alhambra BHC Hospital
- 4619 Rosemead Boulevard Rosemead, CA 91770
- (626) 286-1191
- www.BHCAlhambra.com
Undergraduate Deans Office
- Room 210, Center for Student Services (CSS)
- 414 South Holliston Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91125
- (626) 395-6351
- deans.caltech.edu
Graduate Deans Office
- Room 230, Center for Student Services (CSS)
- 414 South Holliston Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91125
- (626) 395-6346
- gradoffice.caltech.edu
Counseling Services
- Student Wellness Services - South
- 1239 Arden Road, Pasadena, CA 91125
- (626) 395-8331
- Secure message via the SWS Portal.
Center for Student Success
- Room 225, Center for Student Services (CSS)
- 414 South Holliston Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91125
- [email protected]
Caltech Accessibility Services for Students
- Room 248, Center for Student Services (CSS)
- 414 South Holliston Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91125
- [email protected]
- cass.caltech.edu
Your Rights
The California Department of Healthcare Services offers a detailed explanation of your rights if you are in a psychiatric hospital. You may obtain a copy of this document in PDF format at: https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/Documents/DHCS_Handbook_English.pdf