College Student Therapy in Washington, DC
Therapy for college students in DC when campus counseling is not enough.
North Star Psychological Services provides therapy for college and graduate students in Washington, DC who look like they are holding it together, but feel anxious, depressed, overwhelmed, avoidant, lonely, or stuck inside.
In-person therapy in Dupont Circle and secure virtual therapy for college students, graduate students, and young adults in Washington, DC and participating PsyPact states.
You can be doing well and still need support
College can look successful on the outside and feel overwhelming on the inside.
Many students who reach out to North Star are still going to class, answering family texts, showing up for internships, and trying to keep their grades together. From the outside, things may look fine.
Inside, it may feel different. You may be spiraling at night, avoiding assignments, rereading emails, feeling disconnected from friends, or wondering why everyone else seems to be handling college better than you.
Therapy may help when college starts to feel like:
- You keep promising yourself you will catch up tomorrow
- You feel dread before class, work, office hours, or social plans
- Your sleep, eating, focus, or motivation has changed
- You are hiding how bad things feel from friends, roommates, or parents
- You tried campus resources and need something more consistent or specialized
At North Star, therapy for college students is collaborative, practical, and grounded in the realities of student life in Washington, DC.
Why this support matters
Student stress is common. That does not make it easy to carry alone.
National student mental health data reflects what many students already feel: college can involve real pressure, and a large number of students are seeking support.
Reported moderate or high stress
ACHA reported that 76.4% of surveyed students experienced moderate or high stress in the last 30 days.
Source: American College Health Association, National College Health Assessment.Received mental health services
ACHA reported that 35.2% of surveyed students received psychological or mental health services in the last 12 months.
Source: American College Health Association, National College Health Assessment.Reported depression or anxiety symptoms
Healthy Minds Study data reported 37% of students with moderate to severe depressive symptoms and 32% with moderate to severe anxiety symptoms in 2025.
Source: Healthy Minds Study, University of Michigan School of Public Health.Campus counseling and private therapy
When campus counseling helps, and when off-campus therapy may be a better fit.
Campus counseling can be a strong first step. GW CAPS, Georgetown CAPS, Howard University Counseling Service, and American University’s Center for Well-Being all offer student mental health resources, counseling pathways, and crisis support.
For some students, campus support is exactly what they need. For others, private therapy may offer more privacy, specialization, continuity, or flexibility than a campus system can provide.
Off-campus therapy may help when you want:
- A therapist outside the university system
- More privacy from campus life
- Specialized support for anxiety, OCD, depression, ADHD, trauma, eating concerns, bipolar symptoms, grief, or psychosis
- Continuity beyond a semester schedule
- Support through breaks, internships, family transitions, or graduate school pressure
Private therapy can also help if you tried campus counseling and realized you need something more consistent, longer-term, or tailored to your specific concerns.
Common reasons students reach out
You may be doing well on paper and still feel like you are falling apart.
You do not need to wait until your grades, health, relationships, or sleep collapse before starting therapy. These are some of the patterns we often help college and graduate students understand and change.
- Panic before exams, presentations, interviews, or internships
- Avoiding emails, assignments, professors, or advisor meetings
- Feeling numb, detached, lonely, or disconnected after a major transition
- Social anxiety, roommate stress, friendship conflict, or fear of being judged
- OCD intrusive thoughts, checking, reassurance seeking, or mental reviewing
- ADHD, executive dysfunction, procrastination, and trouble starting tasks
- Depression that looks like laziness from the outside
- Eating disorder concerns, body image stress, restriction, bingeing, or compulsive exercise
- Trauma, grief, family stress, identity pressure, or relationship pain
- Periods of feeling unusually energized, impulsive, unable to sleep, or unlike yourself
Areas of support
Therapy tailored to what is happening in your student life
College student therapy is not one-size-fits-all. Students come to therapy for anxiety, depression, OCD, ADHD, trauma, grief, eating concerns, identity stress, academic pressure, and major life transitions.
Anxiety and panic
Therapy can help when worry, panic, perfectionism, overthinking, presentation anxiety, or fear of failure starts controlling your choices.
Depression and shutdown
Support for students who feel numb, exhausted, hopeless, disconnected, unmotivated, or ashamed that basic tasks have started feeling hard.
OCD and intrusive thoughts
We help students understand obsessive loops, reassurance seeking, checking, mental reviewing, avoidance, and fear of uncertainty.
ADHD and executive dysfunction
Therapy can help with procrastination, organization, emotional regulation, task initiation, time blindness, and academic shame.
Trauma, grief, and family stress
College can bring old pain closer to the surface. Therapy can help you process what happened and build more safety in the present.
Eating concerns and body image
Support for students whose relationship with food, exercise, body checking, restriction, bingeing, or weight changes has become overwhelming.
DC college and graduate students
Therapy for Georgetown, GW, AU, Howard, and DC graduate students.
Student life in Washington, DC has its own pressure. You may be balancing classes, internships, policy work, research, activism, networking, family expectations, debt, identity questions, and the feeling that you need to build your future before you have had time to understand yourself.
Georgetown students
Support for pressure, achievement, identity, family expectations, faith or culture questions, pre-professional stress, and the feeling that everyone else has a clearer plan.
GW students
Therapy for students navigating Foggy Bottom, internships, politics, international affairs, pre-law, pre-med, public-facing ambition, and resume pressure.
American University students
Support for Tenleytown students managing activism, public service, policy, social justice fatigue, academic pressure, identity, and burnout.
Howard University students
Therapy for Howard students, including STEM students, pre-med students, medical students, and health sciences students, navigating academic pressure, labs, clinical training stress, campus life, internships, identity, family expectations, achievement pressure, community responsibilities, anxiety, depression, ADHD, trauma, grief, or burnout.
Why students choose North Star
Private therapy in Dupont Circle with practical support and no waitlist.
North Star Psychological Services is located in Dupont Circle, with easy access by Metro and public transportation. Students can choose in-person, virtual, or hybrid therapy depending on fit, availability, location, and clinical needs.
Our clinicians support students and young adults with anxiety, OCD, depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis, eating disorders, trauma, ADHD, grief, life transitions, men’s mental health, and women’s mental health.
How to know it is time
It may be time to reach out if you keep telling yourself you should be able to handle this alone.
Students often wait until they are in crisis because they worry therapy means things are really bad. Therapy can also be a way to prevent things from getting worse.
- You keep promising yourself you will catch up tomorrow
- Your sleep, eating, motivation, or concentration has changed
- You feel dread before class, work, social plans, or assignments
- You are hiding how bad things feel from friends, roommates, or parents
- You are relying more on avoidance, alcohol, substances, checking, or reassurance
- You are having thoughts that scare you
- You tried campus resources but need more consistent or specialized support
- You feel like your life is getting smaller because of anxiety, depression, or avoidance
Campus resources and crisis support
Use every support available to you.
Campus counseling and private therapy do not have to compete with each other. Many students use campus crisis resources, workshops, groups, or referrals while also looking for private therapy that offers continuity and specialized care.
GW CAPS
GW CAPS offers initial consultations, individual therapy, workshops, group counseling, support spaces, TimelyCare TalkNow, and 24/7 crisis support through the Student Health Center phone line.
Georgetown CAPS
Georgetown identifies CAPS as its primary emotional and mental health service for students. Georgetown students can also access HoyaWell and contact CAPS for consultation or referral questions.
American University
AU’s Center for Well-Being offers individual and group therapy, crisis support through ProtoCall, Mantra Health, and off-campus referrals for specialized or longer-term care.
Howard University
Howard University Counseling Service offers individual counseling, group therapy, workshops, medication management referrals, and an after-hours crisis line for urgent mental health support.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. You can also call, text, or chat 988 for crisis support. For campus-specific urgent support, contact your university counseling center or campus emergency services.
What to expect
Starting therapy at North Star
Reach out
Fill out the contact form, call, or email us. You can ask about fit, fees, availability, virtual versus in-person care, and whether North Star may be a good match.
Schedule a free phone consultation
The consultation gives you space to ask questions, explain what is going on, and get a clearer sense of next steps without committing before you feel ready.
Begin therapy
If it feels like a fit, you can begin therapy in Dupont Circle, virtually, or through a hybrid approach depending on clinical fit, scheduling, and location.
Local therapy near DC campuses
In-person therapy in Dupont Circle for college and graduate students.
North Star Psychological Services is located at 1350 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 203, Washington, DC 20036, directly south of Dupont Circle.
Our office is accessible from the Dupont Circle Metro and convenient for students coming from Georgetown, Foggy Bottom, Tenleytown, Howard, downtown DC, and nearby neighborhoods.
Questions about student therapy
Frequently asked questions
Is off-campus therapy better than campus counseling?
Not always. Campus counseling can be a helpful first step, especially for short-term support, workshops, groups, crisis support, and referrals. Off-campus therapy may be a better fit when you want more privacy, a specialized clinical focus, continuity beyond the semester, or support outside the university system.
Can my parents help me find a therapist without taking over?
Yes. Parents can help with practical steps like researching therapists, asking about fees, or helping with transportation. At the same time, the student remains the client. Therapy gives you a confidential space to talk openly, with privacy protected within legal and safety limits.
Do you work with Georgetown students?
Yes. North Star works with college and graduate students in Washington, DC, including Georgetown students. Students often reach out for support with anxiety, depression, family expectations, achievement pressure, identity questions, relationship stress, OCD, ADHD, trauma, eating concerns, and major transitions.
Do you work with GW students?
Yes. Our Dupont Circle location is accessible from Foggy Bottom. We support GW students navigating academic pressure, internships, pre-law or pre-med tracks, public-facing ambition, political stress, anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, trauma, grief, and burnout.
Do you offer therapy for graduate students in DC?
Yes. North Star works with graduate and professional students, including law students, medical students, policy students, PhD students, and young professionals. Therapy can help with perfectionism, burnout, career pressure, research stress, debt anxiety, identity shifts, and relationship strain.
Can I do therapy virtually if I go home for breaks?
Virtual therapy may be possible depending on your therapist, clinical fit, your physical location at the time of the session, and applicable licensure rules. You can ask about virtual, in-person, or hybrid options during the free phone consultation.
What if I am not sure whether this is anxiety, depression, ADHD, or burnout?
You do not need to know exactly what to call it before reaching out. Many students come to therapy with a mix of worry, avoidance, low motivation, trouble focusing, shame, sleep changes, and exhaustion. Therapy can help you sort through what is happening and decide what kind of support makes sense.
How quickly can I start therapy?
North Star currently offers no-waitlist access. Availability can vary by clinician, schedule, and fit, so the best next step is to reach out and ask about current openings, fees, and whether in-person, virtual, or hybrid therapy is available.
Do you accept Georgetown University insurance?
You can ask about Georgetown University insurance, fees, and payment options when you contact North Star. The team can help you understand what questions to ask and what information may be needed before scheduling.
What should I do if I am in crisis?
If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. You can also call, text, or chat 988 for crisis support. If you are a student, contact your university counseling center or campus emergency services for campus-specific crisis pathways.
Ready when you are
You do not have to keep pushing through the semester alone.
If college or graduate school has started to feel heavier than you can carry, North Star can help you find a steadier path forward.