Counselling

Welcome to the Counselling Service at UCLan which is staffed by a team of professionally trained and experienced therapists. We offer a free, confidential service to all registered UCLan students, which is open throughout the year, except during short periods over the Christmas and Easter Breaks.

Currently, our team of Counsellors are providing therapy for students via Microsoft Teams - a free chat, video calling and collaboration platform. Teams supports the delivery of video or telephone appointments, to support the Public Health England social distancing advice. You can get Microsoft Teams on all your devices. They have desktop apps for Windows, MacOS, and Linux, as well as mobile apps for iOS and Android.

We understand that, for some, this will be a very different experience and it may take some time to adjust. Please be assured that your counsellor will work with you to allay any concerns you may have and ensure that you are able to access therapy in a safe and effective manner.

Guidance

  • At the time of your appointment, your counsellor will contact you via Microsoft Teams (using your UCLan email address) at the time of the scheduled counselling appointment.
  • When connecting to Microsoft Teams, always ensure that the environment you are in for the duration of the counselling appointment is conducive to a counselling appointment.
  • It can be helpful, for the duration of the counselling appointment, to switch on the ‘blurring the background’ facility available on Microsoft Teams as this can minimise distractions during the counselling appointment.
  • Please note that recording of the counselling appointment is not permitted when connecting to Microsoft Teams by either the Counsellor or the student. If recording is engaged, then either party can ask for the recording to be stopped and if necessary, terminate the counselling appointment accordingly.
  • At the start of the initial counselling appointment and also at the start of the last counselling appointment, you will be asked to complete a pre and post questionnaire. This may be done online, verbally or via email as an attachment. The Counsellor will discuss this with you at the start of the counselling appointment.
  • If you have any questions or concerns, or you need any support in downloading the Teams App, please contact the Counselling Service by emailing CRecep@uclan.ac.uk and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.

Sessions

  1. Following referral, you will be offered an Initial Assessment appointment with a therapist to establish if therapy is the most appropriate form of support for you.

  2. If, following your initial assessment, 1-2-1 therapy is deemed as being appropriate for you, you will be entitled to receive up to a further five sessions.

  3. In exceptional cases, additional sessions may be offered, but this is at the discretion of the Service Manager.

  4. Therapy sessions are usually up to one hour. Appointments are subject to availability and can be negotiated with the Counsellor.

Other Agencies

There may come a time when it becomes clear that you may want or need further help from an outside source, for whatever reason. In this instance we will discuss what you feel you may find beneficial from this source, and how it may be achieved.

Appointments

Appointments are available to make online (using Microsoft Teams) during the following times:

Term Time:

Monday  08:30 - 19:15
Tuesday  08:30 - 16:30
Wednesday  08:30 - 19:15
Thursday  08:30 - 16:45
Friday  08:30 - 16:30
Saturday  09:15 - 17:15

Outside of Term Time:

Monday  08:30 - 16:00
Tuesday  08:30 - 16:00
Wednesday 08:30 - 16:00

What can counselling help with?

Students come for counselling with a broad range of issues and difficulties including:

• Anger
• Anxiety and Panic Attacks
• Assertiveness
• Bereavement
• Concentration
• Cultural Issues
• Depression
• Eating Problems
• Family Problems
• Homesickness
• Insomnia
• Loneliness
• Low Moods
• Personal Worries
• Relationships
• Self Confidence
• Self Injury
• Sexual Assault and Rape
• Sexuality
• Stress
• Suicidal Thoughts and Feelings
• Other Difficulties

Whatever your difficulty, you are welcome and you will be treated with respect. Please visit our Self help with common issues page for more information.

Students with disabilities

The counselling team is accustomed to working with people from diverse backgrounds and with a wide range of issues.


Deaf Students

If you are a deaf student, currently we do not have a counsellor who can use sign language (BSL) however, we can arrange for either an interpreter or a counsellor who can work with you using BSL.

An Induction Loop System has been installed within our service.

Whatever your difficulty you are welcome and you will be treated with respect.


Useful Contacts

Headroom
Multi-Faith Centre
Medical Centre - 01772 892598
Samaritans - 116 123