The centre offers counselling to members of staff.
The University Staff Counselling Centre provides short-term counselling consisting of eight to ten weekly sessions for a range of issues and difficulties. The Staff Counselling Centre is available free of charge to all staff who hold a University contract of employment: academic, academic-related, assistant, research and technical.
On 26 February celebrations were held at the University Staff Counselling Centre, marking 20 years of staff counselling provision at the University. The centre’s newly refurbished premises at 2-3 Bene’t Place, Lensfield Road, offer calm and quiet consultation rooms for staff to access the counselling available.
Dr Martin Vinnell, the University’s Director of Occupational Health, Safety, and Regulated Facilities, noted his pride in the new facilities, saying that they reflect the vital importance of looking after the mental health of members of the University. Emma Rampton, the Registrary, recognised the “absolute commitment” of the counsellors and other members of the centre at the event to their work, saying that she was “delighted that the premises now befit the standard of the work you do.” Dr Olivia Remes, a graduate of the University and a post-doctoral researcher in anxiety and depression, explained that mental health is worse today than ever before, citing a rise in individualism, the loss of strong social networks, and a rise in technology and connectedness as reasons why anxiety and depression affects one in five of us at any time. She described the benefits of therapy for both the individual and their employer, since it helps people to develop coping skills. She noted that, while depression and anxiety can transmit among people in an organisation, so too can happiness, therefore an investment in protecting the mental health of those who are suffering is an investment in the entire workforce. Her final point was that the centre now offers one of the leading integrated university staff counselling provisions.
Any member of staff can refer themselves in complete confidence via the secure referral form, available here.