FAQs

Your appointment  offers an opportunity to talk with someone in a supportive setting about anything that is affecting your emotional and psychological wellbeing. The practitioner will not tell you what to think, feel or do in relation to your situation, but they may suggest information that might be helpful for you, or who else or which service might be helpful for other support, if needed.  However, the emphasis will be on offering you non-judgmental support and trying to understand, with you, what you are experiencing.

The team is multi-disciplinary, which means practitioners have different ways of working to suit different needs of students . We hope that through speaking with a practitioner , you will be able to develop your own answers and ways of managing or overcoming your difficulties and/or develop  practical support around coping and problem solving. All practitioners aim to enable you to focus on your studies and enjoy your time here at the University of Staffordshire.

The Practitioner will not tell you what to think, feel or do in relation to your situation, and so will not advise you as such, but they may suggest information that might be helpful for you, or who else or which service might be helpful for other support, if needed. However, the emphasis will be on offering you non-judgmental support and trying to understand, with you, what you are experiencing. We hope that with support, you will be able to develop your own answers and ways of managing or overcoming your difficulties, enabling you to focus on your studies.

As a general rule - yes.  Whatever the reason, if you are finding it difficult to get on with your studies or engage in University life more generally, counselling or mental wellbeing support may be of some help.  Some examples of the sorts of things students seek support about are: Relationships (with friends, partners, or family); Self-harm: Eating difficulties; Study problems; Loneliness; Suicidal thoughts; Depression; Self-confidence; Sexuality; Bereavement; Anxiety; Gender; Addiction; Cultural issues; and Self-esteem.

We have a staff team are used to working with students experiencing a wide variety of difficulties.  However, there will be circumstances where support from us may not be appropriate.  In such circumstances we can signpost you to, and sometimes liaise with, other professionals and organisations.

Please see our Privacy Statement, which provides information about confidentiality and also about what information is stored about the services and support you access through us.

You will usually be able to choose whether you see the same Practitioner if you have more than one appointment.  But this will depend on the circumstances and sometimes may not be possible.

If you would like to access mental health support here at the University, you can simply fill out our online form in order to arrange an appointment with our team.

Also see Emergency and 24 hour Support for other options, particularly if you are seeking support outside our opening times.

Appointments usually last for approximately 50 minutes. Occasionally, appointments can last longer, particularly if we are helping organise a referral for you to other sources of support.

Yes - you can cancel or rearrange any appointments that you book by emailing us at student-wellbeing@staffs.ac.uk. Please try to give us at least 24 hours notice of this where possible, so that we can make the appointment available for another student.

No - if you are a University of Staffordshire student studying or on placament at one of our partner institutions, you would need to access counselling at that institution. For a list of partner institutions, please see UK Partnerships and International Partnerships.

If you are a student studying abroad or a student who lives abroad and studies online and you require mental health and wellbeing services, please contact your local GP/psychological services for support; your local university/study abroad contact may also help and advise you. We also have Self Help Guides & apps and online resources  which may be of benefit to you, and we will where possible support the Study Abroad team and university partners to support you.  

Yes - we offer workshops each year. You do not have to be receiving support from the Mental Health & Wellbeing team in order to attend the workshops - they are open to any student.

The Mental Health & Wellbeing team are usually able to provide a supporting statement for Exceptional Circumstances if you have had an appointment with us during the period that you feel your studies have been affected. But we cannot usually provide a statement if this is not the case, and suggest you speak to one of the Student Life Advisors or the Students' Union Advice Centre  for advice on who might be able to provide a supporting statement for your claim, if this is needed.

Yes - we're open all year round but we are closed on public holidays and other occasional days.

We have limited availability to book evening appointments with a practitioner. These are provided for students on a case by case basis, for example those who have course commitments such as a placement or other responsibilities which means you are unavailable within office hours. You will be asked for your availability when completing our online form.  However, we do not open at weekends and our general office opening hours are Monday to Thursday 8.45am - 5pm and Fridays 8.45am - 4.30pm.  

Various other sources of support are available outside of our opening hours including Emergency and 24 hour Support options.

Alternatively, you could also find Self Help resources.