Houston Daily

The University of Houston is introducing Wayhaven, an artificial intelligence-driven wellness coach, to support student mental health services on campus. The chatbot and app will be available for free to students starting this fall and are intended to complement the care provided by licensed clinicians at the university.

Wayhaven offers 24/7 access through an app or as a chatbot on the CoogsCARE website. Students can interact with Marcela or one of three other personalities in a conversational, secure environment designed to address wellness and mental health questions.

Chris Dawe, assistant vice president for Student Affairs–Health and Wellbeing, said, “We know that students are already engaging with AI in many ways. Part of our responsibility is to guide them toward safer, more effective tools like Wayhaven that are designed with mental health and wellness expertise at its core.”

Campus leaders hope Wayhaven will offer a safer alternative to generic AI platforms such as ChatGPT when it comes to mental health queries. Research from the National Library of Medicine has highlighted the potential benefits of AI-driven conversational agents for early depression intervention but also noted that further improvements are necessary.

“It’s exciting that UH is an innovator and is on the leading edge of adoption,” said Dr. Winston Liaw, clinical professor at the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine. “This technology is where a lot of people are going, and it’s what we need to be involved in.”

Dr. Liaw cautioned that while AI tools can provide reassurance and guidance in low-complexity situations, they should not replace human interaction or professional care—especially in high-risk scenarios.

Wayhaven can refer students to various university programs including Togetherall (a peer-to-peer community), Welltrack Boost (a self-help resource), Counseling and Psychological Services’ 24/7 crisis support line at 713-743-5454, and the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988 or chat online at chat.988lifeline.org).

In addition to digital resources, UH is expanding its in-person support network this fall by adding three new embedded counselors across several colleges: Cullen College of Engineering, C.T. Bauer College of Business, and College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. A new crisis response team staffed by licensed clinicians will also work alongside the UH Police Department for after-hours mental health calls later this semester.

These initiatives align with UH’s participation in its fourth year with the JED Campus Initiative—a national suicide prevention program led by The Jed Foundation—and include plans for student surveys related to wellness.

“The more they can tell us about their experiences with their health and wellness, the better we can understand both the gaps in programs and services and the things that might be working for their wellness and their student success,” Dawe said.