Our Counsellors and Mental Health Advisers are here to support you in your time as an Edinburgh Napier student – with meetings tailored to your needs. We work to help manage your mental health and improve your wellbeing in a practical way.
Counselling and CBT
Remember to ask for help if you need it. It’s better to do this as soon as you realise things are getting difficult. We are an approachable team and we want you to feel supported as we know it can make a real difference.
Engaging in counselling or CBT offers you the space to explore, process and set goals relating to all aspects of your time as a student. Counselling or CBT can help build emotional resilience during periods in a student’s life when they are feeling anxious, depressed or overwhelmed. You can benefit from support and opportunities, explore personal and relationship difficulties, and develop new resources and coping strategies in a safe space.
Our counsellors can help you by providing:
• a confidential space to talk about things
• a sensitive, listening environment
• help to manage stress and anxiety
• a range of therapeutic approaches
Contact: counselling@napier.ac.uk
Mental Health
Advisers will guide you to learn strategies and new approaches that help support your wellbeing, offer you practical and emotional support, and give you a safe space to talk.
Our mental health advisers can help if you:
• have an existing mental health condition
• are feeling anxious or depressed
• are worried about your mental health
• want to plan how to stay well while at university
Contact: counselling@napier.ac.uk
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a mind-body approach to addressing and managing stress and anxiety. It is based on traditional meditation practices that emphasise present moment awareness rather than worrying about the future or regretting the past. Mindfulness is widely used across the globe in many different settings,. There is strong research evidence to suggest this helps people to better manage stress, anxiety and depressive illness.
You can access Mindfulness Drop-in sessions as well as signing up for regular Mindfulness programme during term time.
Contact: counselling@napier.ac.uk
FAQs
How do I arrange an appointment with a Counsellor or Mental Health Adviser?
Email counselling@napier.ac.uk. You will be provided with a short registration form to fill in and placed on a waiting list. You will receive an email with a service assessment appointment as soon as we have an appointment for you. If you call please leave your name, email and number on the answer phone, if no-one is available. If you want to register for the service please let us know. We will call you back within 24 hours and arrange for a short registration form to be sent out to you.
What will happen AT MY FIRST service assessment appointment?
Once you have filled in your registration form we will offer you a one-off assessment appointment, although we take into consideration your availability, please note you may be asked to attend this appointment as a one-off so please try to be available for this appointment.
The appointment usually lasts around 45-50 minutes and we will work together to establish the support best suitable to you. This can be in-house services such as counselling and mental health advice and/or self-help tools. We may encourage you to see your GP, or speak to you about specialised community resources, in cases where we feel they would be better equipped to deal with your needs. Some of the questions we may ask are what has brought you to the service, how your mental health is now and how it has been in the past.
Our goal is to create a safe and welcoming environment and for you to leave with a clear support plan. On occasion we might ask you to come back for a 2nd assessment appointment to ensure that we gather all information that we need to offer you the right kind of support.
What will happen AFTER MY FIRST service assessment appointment?
At the end of your first appointment, if counselling is recommended, you will be given an approximate waiting time for your appointment. You will then be sent an appointment when a time becomes free and you will be allocated the same counsellor and same time slot for 5 more sessions.
If we think you would be better in accessing other services, either within the University or externally, we will have a discussion with you and may offer a 2nd assessment appointment to follow up on suggested supports.
Are the counsellors and mental health advisers qualified?
The service is staffed by qualified and experienced counsellors and mental health advisers, but we also provide some placement opportunities to student counsellors & Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) students. We will always inform you beforehand if you are allocated with a placement counsellor and will answer any questions or concerns you have.
What is CBT?
This is a structured intervention where the focus is on changing thought patterns and behaviours, leading to new ways of coping and improving wellbeing. For more information on CBT visit our student intranet.
Can I provide feedback about my experience?
The counselling team provides questionnaires at the end of a trimester for students whose counselling has ended. If you wish to provide feedback at any other time or would like to flag up anything, you can contact us at counselling@napier.ac.uk
Can I request a male or female counsellor?
Yes, please specify when you register.
Do I have to pay for the counselling and mental wellbeing service?
The service is free to all Edinburgh Napier Students.
Is the Counselling and Mental Wellbeing Service confidential?
Yes, the counselling and mental wellbeing team is a confidential service and neither a counsellor nor mental health adviser will share details of your counselling with teaching staff, your GP, or anyone else without expressing permission from you beforehand. However, under certain circumstances such as risk to self or others we may break confidentiality, we endeavor to speak to you about this first. To learn more about this please consult our confidentiality page.