The challenge, he says, is finding a way to move student care “in a way that doesn’t feel like a rejection.”

But Ducey, who is a psychologist, disagrees with Hyman. He says that the bureau can handle full treatment for most students.

“We do think of ourselves as one-stop-shopping,” he says. “Most students, when they really get into therapy, find that medication is no longer an issue.”

Ducey says that in some circumstances the bureau does refer students to UHS for prescription medication.

The role of the bureau is one of the main focuses of the Student Mental Health Task Force that was convened in December.

“We want to be able to keep the Bureau of Study Counsel focused on its role as one portal of entry for students to get help, but also to be able to use all the mental health services that are available to provide treatment,” Dr. Paul J. Barreira, chair of the task force, told The Crimson in December.

The task force is expected to report its recommendations in April.

Where Do I Get Help?

The head of the Bureau of Study Counsel reports to the dean of the College. The head of UHS reports to the University provost. But there is no person or office responsible for overseeing mental health services at Harvard College.

In fact, there is only one administrator who sits over both branches of mental health services: University President Lawrence H. Summers.

A 1999 University-wide committee highlighted the need for centralization as one of its main recommendations for improving mental health care at Harvard. Five years later, few of the committee’s recommendations have been put into place—partially, critics say, because there is no centralized authority to affect change.

“You have to do this all together, you cannot do it in pieces,” says Clarice J. Kestenbaum, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University. “I would just take a weekend retreat, and get the entire program shaped up, computerized, with connections between everyone, all together. One weekend would do it.”

Students with experience inside the system agree.

“You cannot just do this all piecemeal,” says MHAAG founder Jeremy R. Jenkins ’97-’98.

Mental health advocates say the solution could lie in a centralized office with information about all services available and advice about which to choose. Such an office would coordinate all the individuals on campus who might play a role in helping students with mental health problems.