How can the Counselling & Mental Health Support Service help me?

Introducing the Counselling & Mental Health Support Service:

Meet the team at Counselling & Mental Health Support Service:

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​​​​​You can also find these videos at the King's Media Centre.

Mental Health Advice is different to counselling.

Mental Health Advisors offer information, advice, and guidance to students with mental health difficulties. They give short-term therapeutic support to students with mild and moderate mental health difficulties who are registered with the Counselling and Mental Health Support Service.

You can talk to the university’s Mental Health Advisors for practical support, information, advice and guidance about concerns or difficulties related to your mental health and self care. You might not always know what help or support you need, nor what is most appropriate for your needs. Speaking with a Mental Health Advisor can help you work out what you need.

Meetings with an Advisor provide a friendly and informal space in which to discuss your concerns. Advisors will help you access the support you need.

Have a look at our article What are the common issues brought to the Counselling & Mental Health Support Service & what support is available?

Reading this information and visiting the recommended websites might be enough to help you, or you might want to register with our service to talk about how we can further support you.

If you would like to talk to someone in confidence after reading any of the challenges described in the article, then please don't hesitate to contact us and learn about registering for counselling.

We define a condition as long-term if it is lasting/has lasted a year or more. Students with long term health conditions that impact their studies might benefit from a King’s Inclusion Plan (KIP). The KIP is a document you create in conjunction with a King’s Disability Adviser. 

KIPs are designed to inform teaching staff that a student has a health condition and how it might affect study. The Disability Adviser will recommend reasonable adjustments to be included in the KIP. Once you are happy with the KIP it is sent to your academic team to implement the adjustments recommended to ensure you have a fair opportunity to participate in the course.

You don't have to consider yourself to be disabled to apply for a KIP. Email the Disability Support Service for more information, or to request an appointment to discuss a KIP and other support available.

You can also find out more in our article Support for students with long-term mental health conditions.

We typically offer up to 6 sessions with a counsellor or Mental Health Advisor.

The Counselling and Mental Health Support Service offers different types of support depending on need, including:

• Psychodynamic counselling
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Mental Health Advice
• Psychiatric support
• Psychoeducational workshops
• Individual or group support

The service runs a number of groups for students and some for staff. These take place throughout the academic year and cover a variety of themes and topics; some are long term therapy groups, and others are short-term focused groups and workshops.

If you’re interested in joining any of these groups or workshops, please register with the service.
If you have questions and would like to find out more about any of the groups, please email the service directly.
 

King’s Counselling Online provides free and confidential, brief, solution-focused support for people who are experiencing low to moderate mental health and emotional wellbeing difficulties. This is aimed at helping you quickly access counselling support and experience improved wellbeing. 

KCO, in partnership with Spectrum.Life, provides out of hours support and online counselling Monday - Saturday 8.00 - 22.00.

For more details, please refer to What is King’s Counselling Online (KCO)?

It is normal to be experiencing increased levels of stress and anxiety during challenging times. This may well have negatively impacted your mental health and you may need extra support to look after your wellbeing. 

King’s healthcare students may have been especially impacted during the pandemic. Some of you who may be studying dentistry, medicine, nursing, physiotherapy and midwifery may have been called to support the frontline.

We want you to know that the Counselling & Mental Health Support Service is here to support you during these challenging times.

The service has developed a bespoke Counselling and Mental Health Support Care Package for you, so please register with the service to access:

• Up to 6 sessions of free and confidential online mental health support
• Additional online resources to support you with looking after your wellbeing, managing worry, anxiety, insomnia, procrastination and Psychological Wellbeing for Healthcare Workers
• Support signposting to King’s Student Services or to specialist NHS services 
• Referral to specialist psychiatric support 
• Referral to other online platforms such as Spectrum.Life.
• Signposting to specific online support

We offer King's Counselling Online (KCO) for a fully online service to support you out of hours, if you are experiencing low to moderate mental health and emotional wellbeing difficulties. This is aimed at helping you quickly access counselling support and experience improved wellbeing. 

To find out more, please check out What is King’s Counselling Online (KCO)?

There are also other services you can access online on any day, at any time, if you need some wellbeing support or if you're experiencing a crisis. To find out more about these services, please check out Mental health support during evenings, weekends & vacation periods.