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If personal and emotional problems are making your life difficult, the counselling service at UWS can help. Our free, confidential service is available to all UWS students.
You can talk to us about anything that’s affecting your well-being, big or small. It can be a relief to talk to someone in confidence, who won't judge you and who can help you make sense of your situation.
The counselling team aims to create a safe, affirming and welcoming environment that embraces human diversity. It’s very important to us to provide equality of services and care to everyone, regardless of age, disability, race, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religion or belief
If your issues are mostly academic, you might want to check out support for study.
The service offers two different types of appointment:
Appointments are available on all campuses.
If you’re coming to the counselling service for the first time, you will be offered a well-being appointment. This is an opportunity to speak to a counsellor and identify with them what support might benefit you. Support might include:
For many students, a well-being appointment is enough to help begin to find a way forward and perhaps make changes for the better.
After discussion at your well-being appointment, you may decide you would like to have some counselling sessions. Counselling appointments last 50 to 60 minutes. They provide a space to explore and reflect on your situation in more detail.
Handle feelings of stress or anxiety. SilverCloud gives you secure, immediate access to interactive CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) modules.
Modules include Understanding Feelings, Facing your Fears and Managing Worry.
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In an emergency, contact emergency services (999), the Samaritans (116 123) or Breathing Space (0800 83 85 87) for urgent support.
An emergency is when you might be an immediate risk to yourself or others. This could include attempted suicide, serious self-harm or harm to others, or situations where you feel you lack a sense of self-control, personal responsibility or safety.
If the situation is life-threatening, please dial 999. Urgent medical and psychiatric help can be obtained at the emergency departments of the following hospitals:
Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH)
Corsebar Road
Paisley
PA2 9PN
0141 887 9111
University Hospital Ayr
Dalmellington Road
Ayr
KA6 6DX
01292 610555
01292 288952
Emergency Department
Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary
Bankend Road
Dumfries
DG1 4AP
01387 246246
There are three Accident and Emergency departments in Lanarkshire - at Hairmyres, Monklands and Wishaw General Hospitals:
Hairmyres Hospital
Eaglesham Road
East Kilbride
G75 8RG
01355 585 000
Wishaw General
50 Netherton Street
Wishaw
ML2 0DP
01698 361 100
Monklands Hospital
Monkscourt Avenue
Airdrie
ML6 0JS
01236 748 748
You can request an appointment through the Hub or Student Link at your campus. You can do this in person, by phone or through the Hub Portal, hub@uws.ac.uk.
If you are booking by email, please include the following information in your message:
If you are booking a counselling appointment and would like to see the same counsellor you met for your well-being appointment, please mention this when you book. If you can’t remember the counsellor’s name, Hub/Link staff should be able to find out for you by looking at our records.
We will offer you a well-being appointment as soon as possible after you get in touch. This is usually between one and two weeks.
Sometimes there can be a longer wait for counselling appointments, depending on the time of year. If you are finding the wait difficult, the person you see at your well-being appointment can make suggestions to help with this.
Many students find that the opportunity to talk and be carefully listened to for even one session can really move things along.
Others feel the need for a number of sessions. These may be arranged close together, or spaced out over a longer period. For many, spacing sessions more widely provides an opportunity to test out new approaches.
All we ask is that, having made an appointment with us, you do your best to keep it. If you need to change the appointment time, please give us as much notice as possible so that the time can be offered to someone else.
Our service is confidential. Our policy is not to inform anyone that you are using the service, or to respond to any enquiry about you without your permission.
The service works to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy’s ethical framework for the counselling professions. Under all normal circumstances, nothing will be revealed to anyone outside the service without your express permission.
Personal information may only be passed on in the following, exceptional circumstances:
Even in these circumstances we would normally try to speak to you first before contacting anyone else.
Please ask if you have any questions on this policy.
The service works under the terms of the Data Protection Act. A record is created on a shared Student Services computer-based system, where any personal information you share in counselling can only be accessed by a counsellor. Any statistical data we compile about the use of our service is anonymous. You’ll get more information at your first meeting, and we’ll ask your permission to keep those records.
Your counsellor will not normally contact your tutor. If you ask them to do so, they would explore this with you. In this situation they are likely to encourage you to contact your tutor or another member of the academic staff, while giving you emotional support to do this.
Yes. Counsellors are happy to support you in working out how you can help someone else who may be a worry to you.
Our Counselling Team Leader is Jacquie Sharp.
Counselling is provided by Hilary Groom, Kirsty Kelly, Cat MacNab, Mark McGinney and Jacquie Sharp.