Jacksonville, FL Vet Center
We offer confidential help for Veterans, service members, and their families at no cost in a non-medical setting. Our services include counseling for needs such as depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the psychological effects of military sexual trauma (MST). We can also connect you with more support in VA and your community.
Our commitment
- We offer a range of services, from talk therapy to recreational activities. Our team will work with you to identify your goals and make a plan to meet them. We'll help you and your family build meaningful connections to improve your quality of life.
- Our counseling is confidential. We won’t share any information about you or the services you receive without your permission—except in a life-threatening situation. Our records can't be accessed by other VA offices, the Defense Department, military units, or community providers.
- We encourage you to contact us, even if you're not sure you're eligible. We'll find a way to connect you with the help you need.
Locations and contact information
Main Location
Direct line
Hours
- Mon. 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Tue. 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Wed. 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Thu. 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Fri. 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Sat. Closed
- Sun. Closed
Other locations
Vet Centers are community based to be more accessible in areas where you live.
We also have non-traditional hours that change periodically given our community’s needs. Please call us to find out more.
Need help after hours?
Our call center is available 24/7. Call us anytime at 877-927-8387.
Prepare for your visit
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If you’re interested in receiving counseling, information on resources, or referral services, give us a call to discuss any questions or to schedule an appointment with one of our counselors. Although we’re a counseling center, our licensed professionals don’t diagnose any mental health conditions nor do they provide medications for mental health treatment.
Walk-ins are welcome. Same-day services are available. Anyone in crisis will be seen the same day.
Contacting us:
You can call us at 904-399-8351 anytime during our posted hours of operation. If you need to call outside of those times, on weekends, or holidays, the Vet Center Call Center is available 24/7 at 877-927-8387. Calling our main line after hours will automatically send you to the Vet Center Call Center.
Making an appointment:
After your initial contact with us, the Vet Center director will be notified of your interest and will work to match you with a counselor. You can expect a return call within 1 to 2 business days, and we will schedule your first appointment within 2 to 10 business days. Anyone in crisis will have their needs addressed immediately.
Cancelling or rescheduling an appointment:
If you know you’ll miss an appointment, please notify us as soon as possible so we can reschedule your appointment and make that time available for another Veteran or service member.
Location:
We’re located in the San Marco area in Midway Park at 3728 Philips Highway, close to Interstate 95 and Emerson Street. We’re in Suite 31. You’ll know you’re in the right area when you see the American and POW/MIA flags flying proudly in front of our suite. Other landmarks include Hanger Clinic across the parking lot and Dollar Tree across the street. Ring the doorbell or use the handicap accessible door opener for us to welcome you in.
Parking:
Plenty of no-cost parking, including handicap-accessible spaces, is available in the easily accessible, well-lit lot in front of our suite.
You can get to us using Jacksonville Transit Authority (JTA) public transit service. You’ll arrive via the First Coast Flyer Blue Line at Stop 1144, Midway Park on Philips Highway near Emerson Street.
Check JTA scheduling, ADA routes, and tips on how to navigate using public transportation with your bike onboard to help plan your visit.
You don’t need to be registered for care at VA, rated for a service-connected disability, or receiving any other form of VA benefits. On your first visit, we’ll look for one or more of the following:
- Discharge documents (such as a DD214)
- Receipt of certain awards
- Deployment orders
- Other documents that show qualifying military service
Request your military records online
If you don’t have these documents on-hand, come in and we can work with you to establish your eligibility and answer any questions you might have.
In the spotlight
New Vet Centers and Satellite Locations Announced
To improve access to counseling, we are adding three Vet Centers and six satellite locations across the US and its territories. We will continue to expand our program to meet Veteran demand and provide local support to those who served.
Florida Department of Veterans Affairs (FDVA) benefits assistance
Due to FDVA state-wide support for Veterans affected by Hurricane Helene, benefits assistance are not available at your Vet Center until November. You may still receive services at the Jacksonville 1 (Jefferson St) Clinic Benefits Office.
National Hispanic American Heritage Month
Jacksonville Vet Center recognizes and honors the dedication, accomplishments, and selfless sacrifices of nearly 1.3 million Hispanic American Veterans! Call us at
Counseling services
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We offer couples and family counseling to support you as you work toward meeting your goals.
We understand the benefits found in including family members in treatment and are honored to be able to support the Veteran's readjustment with these additional services. If you consider them family, we do, too!
If someone close to you has died or you’re adjusting to a difficult life change, we’re here to support you.
For those who have lost someone, we support counseling, education, and referrals (as needed). If you’re a Gold Star family member, we’re here for you, no matter how distant or recent your loss.
If you or a loved one are in—or may be in—a potentially abusive or violent relationship, we can help.
Whether you’re experiencing intimate partner violence or are concerned about someone else, there are things you can do to enhance safety, emotional well-being, and physical well-being. For more information or assistance, contact us. We offer a quarterly seminar on identifying interpersonal violence and how we can help.
Your North Florida/South Georgia Health Care System offers support through the Intimate Violence Assistance Program. You can reach their two program coordinators at 352-548-6000 for information or assistance.
Learn more about the Intimate Violence Assistance Program
For emergency assistance, the National Domestic Violence hotline can help. You can visit them online or call the hotline at 800-799-7233 (TTY:
Go to the National Domestic Violence Hotline website
If you're a Veteran who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, or a related identity, we can help you find counseling, support, and referral services to meet your specific needs.
Our team works closely with LGBTQ+ Veteran care coordinators and transgender care coordinators locally and throughout the North Florida/South Georgia Health Care System and can ease the process of providing a warm hand-off referral, based on the Veteran’s or service member’s needs.
Learn more about North Florida/South Georgia Health Care LGBTQ+ services
Look for our Mobile Vet Center and staff at many LGBTQ+ events and celebrations, including annual pride parades.
If you’re struggling with issues like PTSD, depression, grief, anger, or trauma, we offer counseling and other support. We’ll work with you to help you achieve your personal goals.
We commonly address the following concerns (no diagnosis needed):
- Anxiety or stress reactions, like PTSD
- Hypervigilance, isolation, difficulty trusting others
- Depression or lack of motivation
- Sleep difficulties
- Anger, rage, and aggressive or reckless behaviors
- Difficulties returning to civilian life after a deployment or activation
Visit us in-person or via telehealth to receive support or for individual or group therapy.
Our licensed professionals will treat symptoms that you present, but won’t diagnose any mental health conditions nor prescribe medications for treatment.
If you experienced sexual assault or harassment during military service, we can help you get the counseling you need. Any Veteran or service member, including members of the National Guard and Reserve forces, who experienced military sexual trauma is eligible to receive counseling. This applies to people of all genders from any service era.
Military sexual trauma (MST) can happen to both men and women. We have male and female counselors who provide trauma-informed individual and group therapy and supportive services for those who experienced military sexual trauma, regardless of if it was reported.
Care at our center includes:
- Gender-specific therapist at your request
- Individual therapy
- Male and female support and therapeutic groups
- Relaxation groups
- Interpersonal violence seminars
If you’re a Veteran from a minority community, we can help you find counseling, support, and referral services to meet your specific needs.
If you have symptoms of PTSD after a traumatic event, we can help. We offer assessment and support through private counseling and group therapy. We can also refer you to VA or community counseling for treatment and therapy resources.
We offer individual and group counseling.
Care at our center includes:
- Gender-specific therapist at your request
- Anger management
- Stress management
- Activity engagement
- Therapeutic groups (Vietnam Veteran Legacy, 12-session anger management, combat, MST)
- Support groups (Vietnam Veteran Legacy, combat, MST, men’s, women’s)
- Relaxation groups (art, coloring, cinema)
- PTSD 101 (quarterly for clients and family members)
- Interpersonal violence seminar
If you’re returning from military service, we’ll help you transition to civilian life. We can connect you with educational and career counseling, mental health services, and other programs and benefits that will support your transition.
You may see our outreach team and other VA services during your drill weekends or trainings, before departing for and after returning from deployments or activations, and retirement presentations.
If you’re a woman Veteran transitioning to civilian life, we can help you find counseling, support, and referral services to meet your specific needs.
It doesn’t matter if you have been out for a while, recently separated or are currently serving, we can help. Care at our center includes:
- Women Veteran support group
- Relaxation groups
- Gender-specific therapist at your request
Referral services
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We can help you overcome substance use problems, from unhealthy alcohol use to life-threatening addiction. We'll connect you to services for your specific needs.
We refer Veterans to VA and other community partners. Southpoint VA's Jacksonville Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Team provides a variety of evidence-based individual and group therapies that are the gold-standard treatments for substance use disorders.
Call 904-399-8351 for more information on substance use treatment and referral options.
If you’re homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, we can help you connect with resources in your community.
Let us help connect you with VA’s “one-stop shop” Community Resource & Referral Center (CRRC) at 605 West Beaver Street in Jacksonville or dial 904-798-2800 for services.
Call our Veterans Crisis Line at 988 and press 1 to get support anytime day or night. This service is private, free, and available 24/7. Our Vet Center can also connect you with ongoing counseling and services.
We can help connect you to VA and community resources that will support you in achieving your goals.
We understand that searching for resources can be challenging. Let us help you navigate through and connect with:
- Activating VA medical benefits and enrolling in care
- Filing for service-connected disability claims and other forms
- Making the most of your VA education benefits
- Using your VA home loan guarantee benefits
- Accessing VA burial benefits
- Searching for employment opportunities/development
We can also connect you to the local Veteran Service Officer/Claims Examiner in your area. Call us to find out more.
If you do not want to enroll or are ineligible for VA health care, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Jacksonville provides information on local resources for you and your family.
Learn more about NAMI Jacksonville
Other services
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We provide private organizations and community agencies education on our Veteran community and military culture. Together, we build referral networks to expand support for Veterans, service members, and their families.
We value community partnerships. Our partnerships include:
- Military installations, National Guard, and Reserve units
- Colleges, universities, and vocational schools
- Florida Department of Veterans Affairs (FDVA)
- County Veteran services and councils
- Veterans Service Organizations
- Community mental health facilities and legal services
- American Red Cross
- Faith-based organizations
Our Mobile Vet Center is also present at a lot of community events in Jacksonville and other areas in northeast and central Florida to connect our Veterans and service members with their benefits and resources. We also educate family members and communities on how to best serve and honor their loved one and service members.
We offer secure and confidential individual and group counseling through telehealth. You can schedule a phone or video appointment for Vet Center services.
How Vet Centers are different than a medical clinic
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Vet Centers are small, non-medical, counseling centers conveniently located in your community. They’re staffed by highly trained counselors and team members dedicated to seeing you through the challenges that come with managing life during and after the military.
Whether you come in for one-on-one counseling or to participate in a group session, at Vet Centers you can form social connections, try new things, and build a support system with people who understand you and want to help you succeed.
You may be eligible for Vet Center services no matter your discharge status or eligibility for VA health care. And we encourage you to contact us, even if you’re not sure if you’re eligible. If we can’t help you, we’ll find someone who can.
If you’re a Veteran or service member (including National Guard and Reserves), you’re eligible if you meet any of these service requirements:
- You served on active duty in any combat theater or area of hostility, or
- You provided mortuary services or direct emergency medical care to treat the casualties of war while on active duty, or
- You were a member of an unmanned aerial vehicle crew that provided direct support to operations in a combat theater or area of hostility, or
- You served on active duty in response to a national emergency or major disaster declared by the president, or under orders of the governor or chief executive of a state in response to a disaster or civil disorder, or
- You’re a current or former member of the Coast Guard who participated in a drug interdiction operation, or
- You’re a current member of the Reserve Component assigned to a military command in a drill status, including active Reserves, and you need to address a behavioral health condition or psychological trauma that is related to your military service
If you’re a Veteran or service member (including National Guard and Reserves), you’re also eligible for Vet Center services if any of these descriptions is true for you:
- You’re a Vietnam Era Veteran who used Vet Center services before January 2, 2013, or
- You experienced military sexual trauma (no matter your gender or service era), or
- You currently use any covered VA educational assistance benefits
What are the covered educational assistance benefits?
- Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty
- Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve
- Post-9/11 GI Bill
- Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E)
- Veterans’ Educational Assistance Program (VEAP)
Remember: You don’t need to be enrolled in VA health care to be eligible for Vet Center services. You don’t need to have a service-connected disability. And you can have any character of discharge.
You can use our counseling and other support services when your participation would support the growth and goals of the Veteran or service member in your family. If the Veteran or service member considers you family, so do we.
You can also use our bereavement services if any of these descriptions is true for your family:
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The Veteran or service member died while serving on active duty, or
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The Veteran was using Vet Center services at the time of their death, or
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The Veteran or service member died by suicide
No. You don’t have to be enrolled in VA health care or have a service-connected disability.
Safe and confidential. Our records can’t be accessed by other VA offices, the DoD, military units, or other community networks and providers without your permission or unless required to avert a life-threatening situation. Here, you can be as open as you want—there’s absolutely no judgment.
Call us at
Our confidential call center is staffed by combat Veterans from several eras and family members of Veterans.
You can talk to us about your military experience, issues around transitioning out of military service, or trauma. We’ll help connect you to resources and support at a Vet Center near you.