Services
What is Counselling?
At its simplest, counselling might be described as the opportunity to talk in confidence with someone whose only aim is to listen to you carefully and without judgment, so that with understanding, he or she can support you as fully as possible in your search to find how best to move forward - in whatever areas of your life you choose to explore.
Each counselling meeting at the University usually lasts about 50 minutes. And you can come for as many sessions as you want.
Common Problems
There is a whole range of issues and difficulties, usually but not always associated with stress, that have led people to make an appointment. Examples include:
- Stress connected with studying or exams, or loss of motivation
- Problems in relationships with friends, partners or family
- Depression, anxiety, lack of confidence
- Issues around sexual identity
- Physical, sexual or emotional abuse
- Eating disorders
- Bereavement
- Problems with alcohol or drugs
But remember these are just examples. You can come at any time if you think it might be helpful, no matter how big or small the issues concerning you may be.
How Counselling Might Help
Counsellors at the University have been trained in the respected and established "Person Centred" tradition of counselling originated by Carl Rogers. In that tradition, counselling might be seen as in some ways similar to being able to talk with a friend whom you trust: someone who tries very hard to understand without judging, and who can be sensitively honest.
Of course, counselling is not the same as friendship, for it is subject to very important professional boundaries. The role is a challenging one, and requires all counsellors to work continually on their own development through supervision, training and personal reflection.
There is significant evidence from client reports and from research that counsellors working in this way can be experienced by clients as enabling them to make progress.
Counsellors do not normally give advice - though we may well be able to point you in the direction of other relevant sources of information and help. In working as we do, we aim to support you to find your own ways forward, believing that no one else can possibly know better than you how best to live your life. The counsellor's task is to help you to unlock the answers that are hidden somewhere inside you.
More about Counselling
You might find it assists you to look at our Policy documents.
Information about counselling in British Universities and Higher Education establishments can be found at: Student Counselling
If you would like to check out a wide range of information about Student Counselling in America, visit the Counselling Centre Village website
For general information about counselling, you might like to visit the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy website or the Scottish organization COSCA.
Very useful information about counselling in primary care can be found at the Counselling in Primary Care Trust website
For information concerned more specifically with psychotherapy, try the UK Council for Psychotherapy website
If you would like to discover more about Person Centred Counselling, an excellent starting resource is Allan Turner's Home Page
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