Mental Health Care in New Brunswick, NJ: A Local Guide

New Brunswick has more mental health care within a few miles than most New Jersey towns, and most of it runs through one institution: Rutgers. The university operates the county's emergency screening service, a large outpatient network, a psychology training clinic, a counseling center for its own students, and helps run a community health center downtown. That concentration helps once you know which Rutgers door does what. The student counseling center will not see a parent or a staff member, and the 24-hour screening line is not where you book weekly therapy.

This guide sorts the options by situation. For the full county list, including programs in Edison, Perth Amboy and beyond, see our Middlesex County resource page.

In an emergency

Call 911 if anyone is in immediate danger.

If it is a mental health crisis but not a 911 emergency, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. It runs around the clock and is free.

Middlesex County's state-designated psychiatric emergency screening service is Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care, at 671 Hoes Lane in Piscataway, a short drive from downtown New Brunswick. Its 24-hour screening line is 732-235-5700. The state lists screening services as the place for psychiatric emergencies, crisis intervention, and information and referral.

More on how this works, and what happens after you call, is on our crisis page.

If you want ongoing care and are not sure where to start

Two phone calls cover most situations.

Rutgers UBHC Access Center: 1-800-969-5300. This is the intake line for Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care's outpatient services. UBHC lists locations in New Brunswick, Edison, Monmouth Junction, Piscataway, Newark and Cherry Hill. Its services include outpatient therapy, intensive outpatient and partial hospital programs, case management, and early intervention and crisis services, for children, adults and families, with in-person and telehealth options. UBHC lists its New Brunswick, Edison and Monmouth Junction adult outpatient sites as a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic.

UBHC does not publish street addresses for its outpatient offices. Call the access line and ask which site is closest and whether it has openings for what you need.

NJMentalHealthCares: 1-866-202-4357. New Jersey's information and referral service, open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. A specialist will talk through what kind of care fits and help you find it. It is not a crisis line. Outside those hours, use 988 or the screening line above.

If cost is the obstacle

Rutgers Center for Psychological Services (GSAPP) is the strongest low-cost option near New Brunswick. It is the training clinic of Rutgers' Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, at 152 Frelinghuysen Road in Piscataway, on the Busch campus across the river.

What to know before you call:

• Therapists are doctoral students in clinical and school psychology, supervised by licensed psychologists.
• It is open to community members, not only Rutgers students. Some of its clinics offer low-cost care to community clients based on household income and ability to pay, so ask which fee applies to you.
• It offers individual, group and family therapy and has specialty clinics for ADHD, anxiety disorders, trauma, dialectical behavior therapy, Tourette syndrome, health psychology, and anxiety and depression in young people.
• The clinic says it accepts clients whose needs match the expertise it has available. If it is not the right fit, it refers you elsewhere.
• Hours: Monday and Wednesday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday noon to 9 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The evening hours help if you work days.
• All sessions are in person at 152 Frelinghuysen Road; the clinic does not offer telehealth.

To ask about an intake, call 848-445-6111 and press 2 for the receptionist.

Eric B. Chandler Health Center is a federally qualified health center operated by Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Eric B. Chandler Community Board. Its main site is at 277 George Street, downtown, phone 732-235-6700. It also runs an annex at 123 Church Street and a site at New Brunswick High School. It accepts Medicaid, Medicare and many private plans and offers a sliding fee scale based on federal poverty guidelines.

One caution. Chandler's published service list covers family medicine, pediatrics, women's health, dentistry, social services and more, but it does not mention mental health or psychiatry. Ask directly before counting on behavioral health care there. A primary care visit at Chandler is still a reasonable first step if you are uninsured: a doctor can screen for depression or anxiety, and the social services team may help with coverage. Our guide to therapy without insurance in NJ covers the other paths, and our NJ FamilyCare guide explains who qualifies for public coverage.

If you are a Rutgers student

Rutgers Student Health runs CAPS (Counseling, Alcohol and Other Drug Assistance Program and Psychiatric Services) for students on the New Brunswick campuses. Individual and group counseling are free for students who have paid the Student Health Fee. Psychiatry appointments are billed to the student's insurance. CAPS says it does not set session limits.

• To book: 848-932-7884, the Counseling Center.
• Same-day crisis help: an on-call counselor at 17 Senior Street on the College Avenue campus, or by phone at 848-932-7884. Walk-in hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Wednesday 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• After hours: call 848-932-7884 and press 2 to reach a 24-hour crisis counselor.

Two limits worth knowing. Family members, faculty and staff cannot use Student Health. Online-only, distance-learning and continuing-education students are not eligible either. If you fall into one of those groups, the GSAPP clinic above takes community clients, and Rutgers students pay nothing there with the university's student health insurance plan (UnitedHealthcare StudentResources), and $20 a session without it.

If you need care for a child or teen

UBHC's access line (1-800-969-5300) covers children and families as well as adults, and UBHC lists children's mobile response and school-based services among its programs. The GSAPP clinic sees young people through its youth anxiety and depression clinic. For how the state's children's system works, see our guide to teen and child mental health help in NJ.

If Spanish is your first language

In a crisis, 988 answers in Spanish by phone, text and chat, 24 hours a day. Its Spanish-language site is 988lifeline.org/es.

To find ongoing care, call NJMentalHealthCares at 1-866-202-4357 (8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily) and ask whether a Spanish-speaking specialist can help.

When you call a clinic, raise language on the first call. Eric B. Chandler Health Center offers its web page in Spanish, so ask there whether Spanish-speaking staff can see you. UBHC and the GSAPP clinic do not say on their websites whether Spanish-speaking clinicians are available, so ask at intake. If you need an interpreter, say so then rather than at the first appointment, so the clinic has time to arrange one.

Which door to try first

Start with the line that fits your situation:

1. Danger or a crisis right now: 911, then 988, then the Rutgers UBHC screening line at 732-235-5700.
2. Want regular therapy or psychiatry: UBHC Access Center, 1-800-969-5300. Ask for the New Brunswick office.
3. Uninsured or paying out of pocket: GSAPP Center for Psychological Services, 848-445-6111. Ask how fees are set for your household income.
4. Rutgers student: CAPS, 848-932-7884, for appointments and same-day help.
5. Not sure what you need: NJMentalHealthCares, 1-866-202-4357, any day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

If a clinic puts you on a waitlist, ask how long it usually runs, then call the next number that fits while you wait. Rutgers runs several of these doors separately, so a full caseload at the GSAPP clinic says nothing about openings through the UBHC access line. If you are new to the search, our step-by-step guide to finding a therapist in Middlesex County covers what to ask on that first call.