Information for College Staff

A General College

Who is it for?

Staff who are employed by a College but who do not have a University contract may use the Staff Counselling Centre. Please check our college drop down menu to see if your college has made specific funding arrangements with our service. If your college is listed the first step is to obtain a referral from your College Personnel Officer or College Nurse (subject to specific College arrangement) in order to secure funding.

If your college is not listed you may access our service directly, without going through your College, and you will pay for the sessions yourself, at a cost of £75 per session. 

Services Available

  • One-to-one counselling
  • Support for staff returning to work
  • Support for staff involved in disciplinary or capability processes

For those in management or pastoral roles

  • Support relationships for those in management or pastoral roles
  • Advice for HR teams and management in supporting staff with mental health issues

Training

 Various training and workshops including

  • 1- hour information giving workshops on stress and mental health issues
  • 2 -hour workshops on resilience training and mindfulness
  • a series of workshops on listening skills to improve communication

What is the Staff Counselling Centre?

The University Staff Counselling Centre provides short-term counselling consisting of eight to ten weekly sessions for a range of issues and difficulties with which you may be struggling.  All of us go through challenging periods during our lives. These challenges may impinge upon our ability to work to our potential, or conversely, problems at work may impact on the quality of our life generally.  We may end up feeling stuck, not knowing what to do.  There is no need to suffer alone.

Either way, counselling may help with any concerns that are currently affecting your wellbeing. The range of issues that people bring to counselling varies hugely.  It includes:

Work issues such as stress, bullying or harassment, work block or difficult relationships with colleagues; personal issues such as bereavement, family or relationship difficulties, cultural experiences, or identity issues, which might relate to sexual orientation or gender identity, low confidence or low self-esteem and more general issues such as depression, anxiety, abuse and communication difficulties.

NB: We are not a crisis service. Please see Emergency Contacts for whom to contact in an emergency if you have immediate concerns about your wellbeing or mental health.

Currently senior members and staff who are employed by the Colleges but are not University employees may consult the Student Counselling Service for a free initial assessment. This would normally be to help you find suitable support elsewhere, for example NHS counselling, private psychotherapy or self-funding counselling with the Staff Counselling Centre.