Counselling at College

Counselling at D6a

If you are struggling with your mental health and emotional wellbeing, support is available within our college for students like yourself.

Counselling/Psychotherapy can provide a safe and confidential space for you to talk to a trained professional about their issues and concerns.

The College Counsellor will help you explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviours so you can develop a better understanding of yourself and of others.

Your College Counsellor is trained to Masters level 7 in Counselling & Psychotherapy, and is a registered member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) and work within its Ethical Framework.

For information to find out whether Counselling/Psychotherapy is for you, what happens when you refer for Counselling, and how sessions run, please click here

How do I refer for Counselling at D6a?

There are two routes of referral. 

1.For self-referral, please click here and complete the referral form.

2. For third-party referral, please speak with your Progress Tutor or a member of SLT in college, who will complete a referral form with you.

If you would prefer to have a brief 1:1 discussion with the College Counsellor about whether Counselling might be right for you before completing a referral form, there are short drop-in sessions available on the following days:

Monday, Tuesday, Friday 8.35am-8.50am

The Counselling Room is located on the Ground floor, G11, down the side of the Progress Hub away from the main atrium.

Referrals can only be accepted from either the individual student or through their Progress Tutor or a member of the college Senior Leadership Team (SLT) with the student’s agreement and consent.

We are unable to accept referrals from parents/carers on behalf of their child.

If you are a parent/carer and have concerns for your child’s mental health and emotional wellbeing, please speak to their Progress Tutor in the first instance. The Progress Tutor will liaise with the College Counsellor on the most appropriate course of action to help support your child.

Additional College Support

In addition to an in-house Counsellor, the college can also provide:

· Trainee Counsellors (studying at Masters level) with student membership of the BACP.

· Education Emotional Wellbeing Practitioners for mild social, emotional mental health difficulties. They may run small pschyo-educational group workshops or offer 1:1 low-level CBT intervention support.

· With your agreement and consent, the College Counsellor can act as your advocate in multi-agency and multi-disciplinary situations, such as working with other organisations to help further support your wellbeing by ensuring your voice is heard. This may take the form of liaise with your G.P. regarding your mental health care, or referral for higher intensity mental health support via CAMHS or AMHS.

· Progress Tutors are all trained in Mental Health First Aid and low-intensity, evidence based mental health support techniques. This can be supportive for general, day-to-day stresses that may be directly linked to academic pressures with no underlying causes or presentations.