Counselling Service - Information for students
This page explains what you can expect from counselling with the Student Health and Wellbeing Service. Please read all of the information before your first appointment, as it forms part of our working agreement with you.
Counselling sessions
Counselling is about enabling you to explore your experiences, feelings, behaviours and relationships. It helps you gain a more confident perspective and make choices that will improve your wellbeing.
We currently provide a short-term 1+1 approach to counselling; this means that our sessions are offered one at a time. If you require longer-term therapy, we will support you with a referral to a more appropriate provider. We are not able to provide ongoing counselling if you are outside the UK.
We offer counselling via any of the following methods: in person (in one of our campus rooms, or on an outdoor walking route), over the telephone, or via Microsoft Teams video/audio call.
Counselling sessions last up to 50 minutes and usually take place on the same day and time each week. Please attend on time, as we work to an appointment system.
During busy periods there may be a wait between your initial appointment and your first counselling session. While you are waiting, you can access the Spectrum Life app, which offers confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year via telephone, live chat, SMS and WhatsApp. You can call free from within the UK: 0800 031 8227 (International: 00 353 1518 0277) or WhatsApp/SMS: 07418 360 780.
You can also access self-help resources through the Centre for Clinical Interventions website.
Please note:
- Counselling appointments must not be recorded.
- We are unable to offer ongoing counselling if you are outside of the UK.
Teams video call counselling
Online counselling sessions can feel more relaxed than face-to-face sessions, however, it is important to approach them as you would an in-person appointment.
Please attend your session from a private, comfortable space with appropriate seating, in keeping with the professional nature of therapy. There must not be anyone else present in the room during your session.
Public spaces are not appropriate due to the inability to control who may be present. Where possible, please use headphones to minimise the risk of anyone overhearing your session.
Attending your appointments
Please attend your appointment on time. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late for an in-person appointment, the session will not be able to take place.
For online or telephone counselling, we will contact you at the agreed time and, if you do not answer, we will make one further attempt five minutes later. If you do not answer our second attempt, the session will not be able to take place.
If you need to cancel or rearrange an appointment, please email sws.therapyappointments@newcastle.ac.uk. We ask that you give us at least 24 hours' notice wherever possible.
If you miss a counselling session or cancel with less than 24 hours' notice, that session will count as one of the sessions we are able to offer.
We may end your counselling support if any of the following occur during your course of counselling:
- You miss two counselling sessions.
- You cancel two counselling sessions with less than 24 hours' notice.
- You miss one counselling session and cancel another with less than 24 hours' notice.
We will only use your university email address (rather than a personal email address), so please check your inbox and junk folder regularly. We may also contact you by telephone, so if you have provided a phone number, please check your voicemail regularly.
Respect privacy
It is important that you participate in sessions from a private, quiet and well-lit area of your home. There must not be others present in the room with you during the call.
Public spaces are not appropriate due to the inability to control who is present.
When at all possible, use headphones to minimise the ability for anyone to overhear the complete content of your session.
Information sharing and confidentiality
Understanding information sharing and confidentiality is an essential part of the support process.
What we discuss during your appointments is kept confidential within the Student Health and Wellbeing Service and will only be shared with professionals involved in your care, and where appropriate.
If we become significantly concerned about your wellbeing or safety, we may need to involve a third party, such as your GP, a crisis team or your named trusted contact. The purpose of this is to provide support outside of the University.
Normally, we will only contact your trusted contact in collaboration with you and with your consent. However, there may be occasions where we need to contact your nominated person without your consent if we are unable to work with you to do so and believe that you or someone else is at risk of harm.
PEC evidence
Counselling appointments are intended to provide therapeutic support and should not be booked solely for Personal Extenuating Circumstances (PEC) evidence.
We are only able to provide PEC evidence for students who are currently accessing the service or who have previously accessed the service. For more information about the PEC process, please visit the Student Progress webpage, Circumstances Affecting Your Studies.