Who is it for?

The Staff Counselling Service is available free of charge to all staff who hold a University contract of employment: academic, academic-related, assistant, research and technical.

[We regret that temporary workers on assignment through the Temporary Employment Service are not eligible to use this service.]

[NB regrettably, staff at institutions such as UCLES, Cambridge Assessment & CUP cannot be seen for counselling, as these are separate employers.]

MRC Toxicology Unit, Leicester: From 1st March 2018 the Staff Counselling Service will have a counsellor located in Leicester.  Staff at the unit can apply for counselling via the online Pre-counselling form. Please see Arranging Counselling for more information

College staff: Please see Information for College Staff

Who are the counsellors?

The Staff Counselling Service is run by qualified and accredited therapists who are highly experienced, working within a range of theoretical modalities and used to working with people from different backgrounds and cultures and with wide a variety of issues.

What is the Staff Counselling Service?

The University Staff Counselling Service 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 well-being. 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 below for whom to contact in an emergency if you have immediate concerns about your wellbeing or mental health.

How can counselling help?

Counselling provides the opportunity to explore and process whatever is troubling you right now in a confidential and non-judgmental setting with a professional, who is not involved in your difficulties.  It can help to disentangle the issues, and understand them from a new perspective.  It can help to identify possible areas for change, where change would be helpful and is possible. It can foster self-compassion and break the cycle of constant rumination. It can identify better ways of coping and develop new ways of being.

If you decide you would like to speak to a counsellor please see the information on Arranging counselling.