• Services are available to all full-time and some part-time students. Our customer care team can help you determine your eligibility. 
  
• All services are free of charge, voluntary and confidential.
  
• Individual counselling sessions last up to 50 minutes.
• For phone appointments, when you receive a call from our counselling team, it may be from a blocked number.
  
• Counsellors may provide referrals to community resources if required.
  

Many students struggle to cope with various pressures at times. It can be hard to live on your own for the first time or adjust to living in a new country. You may be worried about your academic performance or have test-taking anxiety. You may be simply overwhelmed with having to juggle so many demands such as work, relationships and school. In life, we can also face unexpected events such as a death, loss of a relationship, or a traumatic event that can affect us significantly.

Counselling is a safe space where you will not be judged for what you are thinking, feeling or doing. Meeting with a counsellor can help reduce your feelings of stress and help you develop new perspectives and strategies for moving forward. Counsellors can support students who struggle with anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and self-harm behaviour. Counselling is also a great preventive resource to help deal with worries, lack of motivation, feeling lonely and relationship challenges.

Lots of people have worries about going to counselling. It's important to know that:

• Seeing a counsellor DOES NOT mean you are “crazy,” “weak,” or “mentally ill.”  
• Your problems do not have to be severe or an emergency to see a counsellor. 
• Counselling doesn't have to be a long process, sometimes even one appointment can help. 
  
• Counselling is not intended to eliminate all your problems or “fix” you. You are not broken! 
  

When we are in physical pain, we know it is okay to reach out to a doctor for help. It is equally okay to reach out to a counsellor when you are experiencing emotional pain.

When you reach out to schedule your first appointment, you get to decide if you would like to meet with the counsellor in person, over the telephone or virtually. You can also indicate if you prefer to meet with a male or female counsellor.

During the appointment, you can expect a conversation where you and the counsellor discuss what has prompted you to reach out at this time. The counsellor will ask questions about your strengths, things that you have tried in the past, what you hope will change, or what needs to change to reduce your current stress level.

The counsellor will help you set realistic goals for change and then work with you on how to make those changes happen.