Reaching out for support can sometimes feel difficult, but our team is here to help.

Whether you've contacted us in person, by email, or over the phone, we'll usually ask you to complete a referral form so that we can learn a little more about you and what has prompted you to get in touch.

Your referral will then be reviewed by our Prevention and Early Intervention Team, who process all referrals and undertake an initial triage assessment. This helps us understand your situation, identify any immediate support needs, and consider which of our services or interventions may be most helpful.

We understand that no two students are the same. That's why we take a personalised approach, working collaboratively with you to identify the support that best fits your current needs, goals, and circumstances.

Through this process, we can help connect you with the most appropriate level of support, whether that is a wellbeing assessment, same-day support, counselling, workshops, self-help resources, or support from another specialist service.

Not sure what support you need? A wellbeing appointment can help.

 

 

Sometimes, one conversation can make a real difference.

Single Session Counselling offers students the opportunity to meet with one of our qualified counsellors for a focused therapeutic conversation about a concern that is affecting their wellbeing. Drawing on a single-session approach, the appointment is designed to help you make the most of one meeting by focusing on what feels most important to you at that time.

During the session, your counsellor will work collaboratively with you to explore your concerns, identify your strengths and resources, and consider practical steps that may help you move forward. Whether you are facing a particular challenge, struggling with a difficult decision, feeling overwhelmed, or simply want a space to think something through, the session aims to help you leave with something useful and meaningful.

Many students find that a single counselling session provides valuable insight, clarity, renewed confidence, or a different perspective. While some students may go on to access other forms of support, others find that one focused therapeutic conversation is enough to help them move forward.

You might choose Single Session Counselling to:

• Explore a specific concern or challenge
• Think through a difficult decision
• Manage stress, anxiety, or low mood
• Discuss relationship, family, or friendship difficulties
• Develop coping strategies and practical next steps
• Reflect on ways to support your wellbeing and resilience

Our approach recognises that meaningful change can happen in a single conversation, and we aim to ensure that every session is as helpful, focused, and effective as possible.

Student life can be rewarding, exciting and meaningful, but it can also be challenging. Counselling offers a safe, confidential and non-judgemental space to explore difficulties that may be affecting your wellbeing, relationships, studies or day-to-day life.

Counselling is a collaborative process. Rather than telling you what to do, a counsellor works alongside you to help you understand your experiences, explore your thoughts and feelings, identify patterns, and find ways forward that feel right for you. Counselling can help you develop greater self-awareness, resilience and confidence in managing life's challenges. Counsellors work within professional and ethical boundaries, supporting you to make your own choices and decisions. 

At the University, counselling is one part of a broader range of wellbeing support available to students. Depending on your needs, counselling may be the most helpful option, or another form of support may be a better starting point.

What can counselling help with?

Students access counselling for many different reasons, including:
•    Anxiety, stress and overwhelm
•    Low mood or depression
•    Relationship or family difficulties
•    Loneliness and isolation
•    Self-esteem and confidence issues
•    Academic pressure and perfectionism
•    Managing difficult emotions
•    Life transitions and adjustment to university
•    Experiences that continue to affect your wellbeing

You do not need to be in crisis to benefit from counselling. Many students use counselling as a space to reflect, gain perspective, and better understand themselves.

Counselling is not always the first step

Sometimes students assume that counselling is the best response to every difficulty. In reality, there are many ways of supporting wellbeing, and counselling is only one of them.

What counselling doesn't do

Counselling is a collaborative process rather than a service that provides answers or solves problems for you. Your counsellor won't tell you what decisions to make or take action on your behalf. Instead, they'll work alongside you to help you understand your situation and identify what feels right for you.

Counselling is also not:

• An emergency or crisis service
• Medical treatment or psychiatric care
• A diagnostic service
• Academic tutoring or study skills support
• Long-term or open-ended therapy
• A friendship or social relationship
• A service that can guarantee solutions to difficult life circumstances

While counselling can be incredibly valuable, it cannot remove life's challenges. Instead, it offers a supportive space to help you explore, understand, and respond to those challenges in a way that feels meaningful and manageable.

Finding the right support

We recognise that there is no single solution to improving wellbeing.

For some students, counselling is the most helpful option. For others, practical support, workshops, self-help resources, lifestyle changes, social connection, peer support, or specialist services may be more beneficial. Often, a combination of different types of support works best.

Our approach is based on helping you access the support that best matches your individual needs and circumstances at this point in time.

When another service may be more helpful

There are some situations where a different service may be better placed to support you. For example:

• If you need urgent or emergency mental health support
• If there is an immediate risk to your safety or the safety of others
• If you require medical assessment, diagnosis, or medication
• If you need specialist or intensive mental health treatment
• If you require formal reports or evidence for academic, legal, or professional purposes
• If your main concern relates to practical issues such as housing, finance, academic support, or disability-related adjustments

If counselling isn't the most appropriate option, we'll do our best to help you identify and access other sources of support.

A whole-person approach to wellbeing

We know that wellbeing is influenced by many different factors. While talking therapies can be helpful, improvements in mental health can also come through strengthening relationships, increasing social connection, developing healthy routines, engaging in meaningful activities, accessing practical support, and addressing challenges in everyday life.

Our aim is to help you find the combination of support, skills, resources, and connections that will best support your wellbeing during your time at university and beyond.

Self-help resources

Many of the challenges commonly experienced by students, such as stress, anxiety, sleep difficulties, procrastination, confidence issues, and managing academic pressures, can often be improved through high-quality self-help resources. Developing practical coping strategies, wellbeing skills, and healthy routines can sometimes be the most effective first step towards positive change.

We recognise that mental wellbeing is influenced by many factors, including lifestyle, relationships, physical health, study patterns, and our sense of connection to others. Small, realistic changes in these areas can often have a significant impact on how we feel.

Our partnership organisation, Spectrum Life, offers a range of free wellbeing resources, tools, and guided support through their app and portal, why not browse the various tools they offer? 

The NHS also povides many excellent self help resources which you can also browse. 

Workshops & skills programmes

Our Wellbeing Team offers a range of psychoeducational workshops designed to help students develop practical skills and strategies for common challenges.

For example, workshops such as Deadline Ready, Exam Steady provide evidence-informed tools for managing academic pressure, motivation, exam stress, and study-related anxiety. These sessions are designed to equip students with practical techniques that can be applied both during their studies and beyond university.

Workshops can also provide an opportunity to learn alongside other students who may be experiencing similar challenges, helping to build confidence, resilience, and a sense of shared understanding.

For more information or to book a place:, please look at our page which includes information about current workshops.

Social & peer support

Feeling connected to other people is one of the strongest protective factors for mental health and wellbeing. Sometimes, increasing social connection, building a sense of community, and reducing isolation can be just as important as accessing professional support.

The Students' Union offers a wide range of clubs, societies, volunteering opportunities, and events throughout the year, providing many ways to meet people with shared interests and develop supportive social networks.

You can find out more by looking at the unions events page or societies page, or joining their social media sites.

We know that everyone's needs are different. For some students, speaking with a counsellor may be helpful. For others, strengthening social connections, developing a routine, accessing practical support, or becoming involved in university life may play an equally important role in improving wellbeing. Often, the most effective approach combines several of these sources of support.

The Disability & Wellbeing Service

Rm 467, Mary Dunn Wing,
Learning & Teaching Building,
55 Richmond Street,
Glasgow, G1 1XQ

• Telephone: +44 (0)141 548 3402
• Email: disability-wellbeing@strath.ac.uk

Office hours:

• Monday to Thursday: 9am to 8pm (5pm to 8pm by appointment only)
• Friday: 9am to 5pm

We'll aim to respond to your email message within five working days.

Appointments can be made by phoning the Disability & Wellbeing Service on +44 (0)141 548 3402. You can also email us at disability-wellbeing@strath.ac.uk to ask about making an appointment.