Counselling

We understand that college life can be daunting for some students and that sometimes things happening outside of college can also affect your studies. We would like to support you as much as we can and one of the ways we do this is by providing an experienced and knowledgeable team of counsellors that students are able to access when they need it.

Our fully trained counsellors are on hand to lend support throughout your time with us. There are opportunities to talk in confidence and explore any issues you may have, including ways to manage your studies and achieve your goals.

How we work

Students can be referred to the team in a number of ways. You can self-refer if you feel you need this. We have a strong relationship with progress leads and tutors across college and they are also able to refer to us after discussing this with you.

We try to encourage open and honest individual discussions with students but also understand some people can struggle with this, so we have a patient and supportive approach. Conversations with you will be confidential unless we feel you are putting yourself or another person in danger. We may then have a conversation with safeguarding if we feel this is appropriate but will always inform you of this. Confidentiality processes will be discussed further with you in your first session to keep you informed.

Counselling Referral Form

Different levels of counselling support

Listening ear

In college we offer 30-minute sessions when initially referred for support so that we can determine the correct level of support for you. These are called a ‘listening ear’. Students have told us that these sessions are helpful to decide together if full counselling sessions are for you and most importantly you and you are happy to attend them and fully understand what they will entail.

Counselling session

Counselling sessions will usually last for 6 sessions initially then we can review how they are going and decide of they need to continue or if it would be beneficial for you to be referred to external services. The sessions themselves last no longer than 1 hour but will take place for as long as you feel comfortable talking to one of our team.

Partnership Working

Sometimes it may be necessary to refer to an agency outside the college and the college works closely with external counselling and mental health teams – follow link for full details

We will always have an open and honest discussion with you if we feel this may benefit you.