About the University Counselling Service
General information
The University Counselling Service comprises both a Student Counselling Service (which also offers limited support to staff with College contracts) and a Staff Counselling Service. The information on this page applies to both Services.
Opening times
Mondays: 9.00 - 5.30
Tuesdays: 9.00 - 7.30
Wednesdays: 9.00 - 7.30
Thursdays: 9.00 - 7.30
Fridays: 9.00 - 5.30
The Service is open throughout the year except for periods at Christmas and Easter although reception hours are sometimes reduced outside of term time.
Introduction
Many personal decisions are made and problems solved through discussions with friends or family, a College Tutor or Director of Studies, or a Nurse, GP or Chaplain. However, there are times when it is right to seek help away from the familiar daily environment: the Counselling Service was set up to meet just such a need. Seeking counselling is about making a positive choice to get the help that you need.
Who are the Counsellors?
The Service is staffed by a team of professionally trained and widely experienced counsellors and therapists who are accustomed to helping people from many different backgrounds and cultures and with a wide range of personal and work issues.
Some of the counsellors who work in the Service are Associates, who are in the late stages of their counselling training. Their work is carefully supervised within the Service. Please let us know if you would prefer not to be seen by an Associate.
What happens in counselling?
A counsellor seeks to help you to focus on and understand more clearly the issues that concern or trouble you. The counsellor's role is to offer support and understanding and to listen and respond in a non-judgmental, non-critical way. S/he will respect your values, choices and lifestyle. S/he will help you explore your feelings and may try to help you discover what lies behind what is troubling you. S/he can help you to make decisions, choices or changes that are right for you.
What sort of problems can be helped through counselling?
Most personal, relationship or identity problems can be helped through counselling - this includes anxiety, stress and depression; family and/or relationship difficulties, sexual problems and identity issues. Counselling can also help with other issues such as: adjusting to a new culture, dealing with dilemmas, making difficult decisions or choices, as well as more specific problems such as eating problems.
Don't wait until a problem has grown very serious - we would much rather you came when something is relatively minor, so that it can be resolved more quickly.
The Service is very well used and we saw nearly 1200 students and 300 staff during last year alone.
Evaluation
We are engaged in an extensive evaluation of people's experience of the Service, and to aid this we routinely use a questionnaire to seek feedback. Respondents can choose whether to reply anonymously or not.
Responses will be stored on a database separate from others used in the Service, and will comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Act. No responses will be used in a way that identifies individuals.
Making an Appointment
Appointments are usually made by completing a 'pre-counselling form' which enables us to place you with an appropriate counsellor as quickly as possible. Further information about appointments and the pre-counselling forms are available from the links below: