Pollard Counseling Department - Mental Health Resources

Emergency Support

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.

If you are a Needham resident and it is an urgent matter, you can call Riverside Emergency Services 24 hour emergency line at 800-529-5077. Youth Mobile Crisis Unit website (see flyer below)
- - Newton Wellesley Hospital has a psychiatric emergency room.

If you are a Boston resident, please reach out to the BEST team at 800-981-4357.
- - Boston Children's Hospital has a psychiatric emergency room.

Mental Health Supports

Community Mental Health Agencies:

Needham Youth & Family Services 781 455-7500
William James College Interface referral service: (website) 617-332-3666
ellie Mental Health services: (website) 617-977-5372
METROWEST CARE CONNECTION: (website) 844-528-6800
Riverside Community Care Child and Family Services (see more details below)
Newton-Wellesley Hospital Resilience Project
Women's Protective Services- Metrowest Rape and Domestic Abuse Help, 1-800-593-1125
QARI, provide language-accessible and culturally-responsive outpatient mental health services to Asian immigrants and their families

Grief & Loss:

Substance Use/Abuse:

Drugs and Alcohol
Alanon and Alateen
Al-Anon/Alateen Meeting Schedule, 1-508-366-0556
Drug and Alcohol- Teen Hotline, 1-800-252-6465

LBGTQ+:

Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays

Depression & Anxiety:

Crisis Hotlines:

Samaritans 24-Hour Helpline: 1-800-252-TEEN (8336)
Call 2 Talk, crisis text line Text C2T to 741741
Teen Dating Violence Youth Hotline- Boston, 1-617-773-4878
National Mental Health Hotline information

Bridge Over Troubled Waters- Boston, 1-617-423-9575, resource list

Social Skills Development:

The Academy of physical and social development in Newton, MA. website
Child Therapy Boston in Needham, MA. website
The Brookline Center for community mental health website
A New Approach in Canton, MA website
The Center for Family Empowerment website

Social Media:

How to put restrictions on phones:

For iphones: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201304
For Android: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/1075738?hl=en

A great website on internet safety: https://www.internetmatters.org

Information on cyberbullying

Mental Health Resources for Boston Residents

List of resources provided through the Needham Metco Program.

Disclaimer: The information provided on this website is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or guidance. The recommendations for mental health facilities are based on publicly available information and may not be exhaustive or up-to-date. Users are encouraged to conduct their own research, seek advice from qualified mental health professionals, and verify information before making any decisions.

Helping Students Cope with Sudden Death Robert Evans, Ed.D.

The sudden death of a student can have strong effects throughout a community. Everyone feels shock and disbelief, as well as concern for the student’s family and friends. Faculty and staff want to be helpful to students but often have trouble themselves understanding how such a thing could happen, even if the circumstances are not immediately clear, let alone if they’re not. People worry about saying too much or too little, about not having enough information, about saying the wrong thing. Though there is no perfect solution, there are five guidelines that can often make a positive difference in talking with students.

It is helpful not to over-assume what the loss meant to them. They react differently depending on their closeness to the situation, their own personalities, and so on. Some may be deeply moved, others less so. Some may have many questions, others fewer. Not all will be intensely affected. Showing little reaction does not automatically mean a student is hiding or denying his or her feelings. At the same time, some students who have little immediate reaction may become upset later on, even in a way that doesn’t make sense to them. Contrary to what many people imagine, there is no universal timetable.

Young adults are remarkably resilient. They may become quite upset, but given a chance to express what they feel, they usually resume their normal lives—and often do so more rapidly than older adults. Most students do not benefit from extensive, probing questioning about their reactions. They do profit from simple, direct information and from faculty and staff being available to respond to their questions and to listen when they themselves want to talk.
If you receive difficult questions from students it can be useful to understand these before answering them. Often a question is spurred by a feeling. Rather than plunging into an immediate answer, it can be helpful to learn what motivates the question by asking, “What made you think of that?” or “Can you tell me what you were thinking about?” Once you know the source of the question, it is easier to answer effectively.
There may be questions you cannot answer, which can make anyone feel inadequate. But all of us are typically more comforted by straight talk than by false assurances. Rather than to invent a response, it can be much more helpful to say, “I don’t know,” or, “I’ll try to find out.”
Coping with a tragic death is not primarily a matter of technique, not something best handled by a particular set of tactics that deviate sharply from one’s familiar patterns of communication. The regular routines of school, for example, are, all by themselves, a source of comforting continuity and assurance. Faculty and Staff will rarely go wrong by relying on what is most basic between them and students—caring and connection. At these times, your presence—your simply being with students, their knowing that you are available—can be very reassuring.

Dr. Evans is a psychologist and the former Director of The Human Relations Service.

MCI Caregiver Handout.pdf

Riverside MCI Flyer.pdf

HEARTplay ALL FALL 2025 PROGRAMS (updated 9_8_25).pdf

CHP MOS 2025 flyer.pdf