Settling in

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Settling in

Page written and resources collated by Jozef Sen, Lead Wellbeing Practitioner

University life is all about learning – academically, personally, and socially. This journey of learning is likely to be very different from what you experienced at school or whilst living at home with your parents or guardians. You may hear people talk about the need for you to engage with ‘active’ or ‘self-directed’ learning or activities. This simply means that you will be in control of your own spectrum of learning much more than before. In university the expectation is that you are now an independent adult. That means that you are responsible for your own behaviour.

Whilst, to begin with, this can seem strange and even daunting – in time most students realise that learning and living in this way can be more personally fulfilling and enjoyable. University can be a great place to experience, to experiment, and to find out who you are!

That doesn’t mean you should expect to be able to learn like this right away. You need to give yourself time to learn how to learn as an independent adult. Be patient, use the tips in this video and the resources at university and chances are everything will come together as you’d hoped.

Please note that whilst we hope that all of the resources below are useful, the Student Wellbeing Service does not endorse the opinions expressed by other parties.

Videos

Resources

Adapting to Uni Life

Advice on how to settle in to university and give yourself time to find friends and activities you enjoy.

 

see more Wellbeing videos

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Student Minds 

Student Space is a 24/7 support service developed by the charity Student Minds. The website offers Support and advice for all areas of student life. 

Student space has specific resources for Preparing for University and offers tips and advice for the concerns that you may have at this time. 

Wellbeing Group Sessions

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Accepting Me - Developing Self Compassion

Practice treating yourself with compassion and kindness. 

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Togetherall - Online courses

Togetherall is an online mental health community with a wealth of resources - available free to all staff and students.   To access resources from Togetherall you need to register for an account here . You will only need to do this once. This will allow you to access many of the tools on our site.
see all online courses
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Balance your thinking

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Managing social anxiety

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Managing Stress and Worry

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Improve your sleep

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Problem solving

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Podcasts and audio resources

Articles

To read some of these articles and other resources on our site you will need to register with Togetherall. The process is quick and you only need to do it once.

Downloadable resources

Active Wellbeing

see all active wellbeing options
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Fitness classes

There are a range of fitness classes available through Hallam Active

See whats available

Social Sport

Play for fun – whatever your experience

Find out more

IAPT

see all IAPT courses
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Overcoming Anxiety and Worry

Our Overcoming Anxiety and Worry course helps you understand the effects of anxiety on your body and techniques you can use to overcome it. It’s also an opportunity to meet others who may be feeling similarly to you, although the session is not group therapy and you will not be asked to share your personal experiences with others. The course is free and runs for five weeks, with a 90 minute online session each week.

Go to course
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Managing Stress

Most of us will feel stressed at some point in our lives. Our Managing Stress online course can help you better understand stress, what causes it and teach you helpful techniques to improve how you are feeling. The course is free and runs for five weeks, with a 90 minute online session each week.

Go to course
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Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for Depression

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a 9 week course for people who experience depression. It is recommended by NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) as an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression. It is also recommended by NICE for those who have recovered from depression, as a way of reducing the chances experiencing depression again in the future. MBCT courses combines two helpful approaches: Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Our MBCT courses are a great way to understand thought patterns and how to work with these in more helpful ways.

Self-assessments

To read some of these articles and other resources on our site you will need to register with Togetherall. The process is quick and you only need to do it once.

see all self assessments
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Wellbeing

This test looks at your general wellbeing. Please be aware that this is a standard validated test giving a measure of wellbeing.

Check your wellbeing levels
Active Wellbeing

Active wellbeing options
Anxiety

Resources from Wellbeing to help understand and manage anxiety
Five Ways to Wellbeing

Five ways to Wellbeing