Student counselling
The University Counselling Service offers free, confidential support to students' registered at The University of Nottingham. We are a referral only service.
Our professionally qualified counsellors can offer help with personal and psychological problems.
To arrange an appointment with the counselling service,
You will need to meet with a member of staff from one of the following services:
Who is the best person to speak to?
The support and wellbeing team are based locally in the schools and provide wellbeing support to students.
The residential experience (ResX) team provide support to students living in university supported accommodation.
The disability team provide support to disabled students.
The support and report team provide support to students reporting incidents to the university.
What happens next?
The person who refers you to the Counselling Service will complete a referral form with you to provide the service with some information about you and the difficulties you are facing.
When we have received your referral form, the counselling service will ring you from a withheld number to book an appointment with a counsellor.
At busy times you will be placed on a waiting list.
What to expect from your counselling consultation
Your consultation will last up to 50 minutes. The time will be used to discuss your situation in more depth to help you gain a clearer understanding of what has been happening and to think about some strategies that might help. Your counsellor may also suggest some self-help resources, groups or workshops that are relevant to you, and provide you with information about other local services.
Many people find that a single counselling consultation will give them the support and insight they need to get on with their lives without further help. in some cases, however, the counsellor may suggest a follow-up appointment.
Missed appointments and late cancellations of appointments
We recognise that it is sometimes difficult to attend appointments at the University Counselling Service, however, we are very busy service and late cancellations and missed appointments cannot be offered to other students and staff who are waiting. Our full policy can be found here.
How confidential is counselling?
The Counselling Service takes confidentiality very seriously. All client information is treated in confidence. This means that we do not disclose verbal or written information without your permission or consent.
Where you have given consent to a third party (non-UoN) body i.e. police etc to have access to your notes, you will be invited in prior to their release to review them and to be advised of the potential emotional implications.
The only exceptions are where there is a legal obligation to disclose information (which is very rare) or when a member of the service believes the client or other people are at serious risk. In these circumstances we will seek your consent to pass on concerns before information is disclosed.
Further details can be found on our confidentiality page.
Your counselling appointments are confidential. Audio / video recordings of the sessions is not permitted.