Counselling is the opportunity to talk with a professionally trained person who can offer support and new perspectives on personal, work or study related problems. The Counsellor can assist you to:

Clarify the problem

Identify and confirm realistic goals

Identify the options available to achieve those goals

Develop new perspectives and skills

It helps to talk to someone if something is troubling you and it is often better to talk to someone other than family or friends. Counsellors are trained to help you think about what is going on with you, without judging or criticising, and this can help you to understand things more clearly.

You can talk to a Counsellor about anything that is concerning you that affects your life. Counselling Service might include:

Employment issues - problems of motivation, difficulties concentrating, anxiety about assessment.

Personal issues - lack of confidence in your abilities, depression, grief, worry or anxiety, problems in your relationships with family, friends or coworkers; life crises such as the break up of a relationship, bereavement, major health problems, sexual abuse.

Career related issues - decisions about changing your course of career.

The list is not exhaustive. If you have a concern contact the Counsellor and they will advise if they can assist you, and refer you to a more appropriate service or professional if not.

As a general rule anything discussed in consultation with Counsellor is CONFIDENTIAL. No information will be released by Counsellors to a third party without prior written consent. In exceptional circumstances (e.g. to protect the safety of another person) a Counsellor may be required to breach confidentiality to conform to strict legal or ethical requirements.

Some of the typical problems people come to counselling for include: stress, depression, anxiety and panic reactions, eating disorders, drug and alcohol use, sexual difficulties, recovering from sexual assault, and a variety of family and relationship problems.

Presently, our counselling is done on an individual basis. We provide one to one counselling for people living with and recovering from eating disorders.

That is a difficult question to answer because students come to us with so many different issues, there really isn't a standard number of visits. Take for example, two people who are having difficulty sleeping and are feeling very stressed about marks for grad. school. For one person, some basic coping strategies discussed across a couple of visits, might be enough. For another person, the stress could be tied to additional issues and take more time to develop working solutions. The best answer we can provide here, is that you and your counsellor will decide together what your needs are and how to satisfy them.

Yes and no. If the medication is associated with your mental health and well-being, and you and your counsellor agree there may be some benefit to medication then, yes, medication can be prescribed.

If you feel you need medication for your physical health and well being, for example antibiotics or the birth control pill, that would be better handled by the physicians in the Medical Centre. Either way, Student Health Services can help you get the medication that is right for you.

Yes. Individual counselling is available.

Yes. The counsellors at Daystar group provide services for a wide range of people needs. Counselling for people living with HIV or AIDS is just one of the many areas our counsellors are trained to provide.

Yes. The counselling staff provides support for people who wish to address any personal issue. Our counsellors do have experience working with members of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community at Western.

Yes. Our counsellors are available to provide counselling to person who have experienced sexual assault. If you would prefer a female counsellor, you can request one at the time that you make your appointment.