Counselling

Our Counselling Service offers short-term, focused support designed to help you get back on track when difficulties are affecting your wellbeing, studies, or day-to-day life.

We are not a long-term therapy service. Instead, we provide focused support - this might be a one-off session or, if helpful, a short series of appointments (on average around four). Many students find this time-limited approach useful to help them make sense of difficulties, understand things more clearly, and work out what to prioritise to take some positive action.  

What Counselling Can Offer

Counselling is a safe and confidential space to talk about a wide range of issues and challenges – whether directly linked to university or connected to other areas of your life. The focus is on helping you to:

• Make sense of your experiences
• Explore new perspectives and coping strategies
• Develop tools and resources that support both your academic and personal goals

Our counsellors are not here to provide ready-made answers, but to work with you collaboratively so that you can find your own ways forward.

Benefits of counselling

Students seek counselling for many reasons. You might find it helpful if you are:

• Struggling with ongoing concerns, new challenges, or simply a sense that something isn’t quite right
• Finding that strategies which worked in the past are no longer helping
• Wanting to talk openly with someone impartial, in confidence, without judgment
• Looking to understand your feelings, relationships, or difficulties from a different perspective

Through this process, counselling can help you:

• Build resilience and resources
• Explore change and growth
• Develop more helpful ways of coping and living

What We Expect from You

Counselling works best when both you and your counsellor are committed to the process. To make the most of the support, we ask that you:

• Attend your booked sessions – regular attendance is important to keep the work focused and effective.
• Review our Attendance Policy so you understand how appointments are managed.
• Let us know if you can’t attend – if you need to cancel or rearrange, please contact us as soon as possible. Missed appointments without notice will still count towards your session allocation.
• Tell us if you decide to end counselling or no longer require support, so that we can update your record and offer the space to another student.

You don’t need to have everything figured out before you start counselling. Many students come not knowing exactly what they need – and that’s okay. Our counsellors can help you explore your experiences, make sense of what’s going on, and work with you to identify what might help.

Short-term counselling can be very effective for gaining clarity, exploring options, and finding ways forward – even if you’re not yet sure what those might look like.

When Counselling May Not Be Suitable

Our service provides short-term, focused counselling. In some situations, this may not be the most appropriate form of support for you. For example, counselling through the Student Wellbeing Service may not be offered if:

• Your support needs are best met by the NHS or another specialist service
• You are already receiving counselling, therapy, or psychological support elsewhere
• You are seeking longer-term, ongoing therapy (our service is not open-ended)
• The initial assessment indicates that specialised, intensive, or other forms of therapy is required
• There is a high level of risk that cannot safely be supported within short-term, university-based counselling
• Medical issues need to be prioritised, in which case referral to medical services is recommended
• You are based outside the UK in a country with specific counselling regulations that are not compatible with UK professional requirements

If counselling through our service is not possible or not the best fit, we will work with you to explore other sources of support. These may include:

• Other parts of the Student Wellbeing Service (e.g. workshops, group events, online support, or Mental Health Adviser input)
• Wider university pastoral and academic support services (Academic Support, Transitions & Welfare Teams, Disabled Student Support, Study Skills)
• NHS or other external services in the UK, if longer-term or specialist therapy is more appropriate
• Local services in the country where you are currently based (for students outside the UK)

Our Counsellors

All of our counsellors are experienced, professionally qualified, and either accredited or working towards accreditation with a recognised professional body. We work within the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) Ethical Framework.

Our team works integratively, meaning they draw on a range of counselling and therapeutic approaches to provide holistic support tailored to your needs.

How to Access Support

To explore counselling and other wellbeing support available to you, please register with Student Wellbeing. This ensures we can understand your situation and direct you to the most suitable support.

Counselling Placements

We are not currently able to offer counselling placements, though this is something we may review in the future.