What is counselling?
Counselling is sometimes known as one of the ‘talking therapies’. Working with a counsellor is both an experience and a process in which you can discover, explore and understand yourself and your concerns. This will hopefully lead to greater ability to live and study in more fulfilling and productive ways. The process may involve facing painful experiences and feelings, and bearing these is part of the process. There is also room for celebration and sharing the joy of achievement.
Do I have to have a particular problem to come to counselling?
People come to counselling with a variety of concerns including worry, bereavement, disordered eating, self harm, pregnancy, low mood, family problems, stress about study and/or relationships. But some people might want some space to take stock of their life, or think about an uncertain future.
Is it confidential?
We take confidentiality very seriously, and abide by the Framework of Ethics of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. The fact that you are seeing a counsellor and the information you share with a counsellor will not be divulged except with your permission with the following exceptions. Counsellors work under clinical supervision and cases discussed under these confidential circumstances are anonymised. The law, including the Prevention of Terrorism Act requires information under some very rare circumstances. Also, if someone is at risk of serious harm to self or others, confidentiality may be broken. In most situations, we would endeavour to inform you before breaking confidentiality.
What can I expect from my counsellor?
You can expect confidentiality, a non-judgmental attitude, and respect from your counsellor. You and your counsellor will make a contract about frequency and time of meeting. Appointments, which are weekly, usually last 50 minutes. Hopefully, you and your counsellor will decide when it is right to end. You may also be helped to find support in another setting if this is better for you.
What does the counselling service expect from you?
We expect you to make a serious commitment to counselling, and to take responsibility for you own growth and change. You should honour your appointments and give as much notice as possible if you need to cancel. If you need to finish coming to sessions before the agreed ending, you should notify the service, so that others may be seen in a timely fashion.
We hope that our service will be useful to you and that it will enable you to make the most of your studies here at the University. Please do not hesitate to get in touch before a problem becomes a crisis.
Contacting the Counselling Service
Use the links on the right to find out more about the Counselling Service. To request a meeting please download the Counselling Request form on the right.
To contact us:
Head of Counselling
01243 816042
stucounselling@chi.ac.uk
Immediate help
The Counselling Service is not an emergency service, although urgent cases will be seen as soon as possible. If you need immediate help, contact the university Health Service (BOC 01243 816111or BRC 01243 812122) during office hours, or speak to the Samaritans any time on 01243 826333 or 0345 90 90 90. You may also contact your GP.
