Objective: To explore character strengths of college students who sought counseling, and its relationship with mental health. Methods: A total of 180 college students who sought counseling were investigated by using the short version of Character Strengths Questionnaire and the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) during March 2020 to October 2021. Results: The top five character strengths of college students who sought counseling were appreciation, authenticity, gratitude, humor, love of learning ( 8.39± 1.64, 7.82±1.74, 7.73±1.57, 7.29±1.81, 7.17±1.88); The bottom five character strengths were kindness, bravery, persistence, zest, leadership (5.59±1.75, 5.81±1.30, 5.86±1.72, 5.98±1.59, 6.06±1.60). Linear regression analysis found love, social intelligence and insight showed associations with different dimensions of mental health, with correlation coefficient of each regression equation between -0.12 and 0.16, and the coefficient of determination between 0.05 and 0.19 ( P <0.01). Love had a negativeassociation with all factors of SCL- 90 ( β=-0.314--0.159, P <0.05), which could explain 3.3%-12.5% of the variation of each factor. Social intelligence had a negative association with obsessive compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity and anxiety ( β=-0.200--0.150, P <0.05), which can explain 1.6%-3.2% of the variation. Insight had a positive association with somatization, hostility and paranoia ( β=0.168-0.279, P <0.05), which can explain 2.3%-3.8% of the variation. Conclusion The lack and excess of character strengths is associated with mental health problems. Therefore, it would be more effective to help counseling cases build an appropriate and balanced character in the context of a strengths based approach.