Birkbeck counselling service leading initiative on student mental health
The counselling service will bring together mental health practitioners from universities across the UK for training sessions to address the critical issues of student mental health and wellbeing.
Birkbeck is set to host a specialist training series for counsellors working in higher education. This training offers an opportunity for counsellors to come together to address the critical issue of student mental health and wellbeing.
The topics of these days include exploring assessment for short-term counselling in higher education, managing risk, and working with trauma and sexual abuse. This is a nation-wide event and Birkbeck is expecting to welcome counsellors from over 20 different higher education institutions to contribute to these practical workshops and breakout sessions led by sector specialists.
Charlotte Williams, Head of the Counselling Service at Birkbeck said: “University support services are experiencing challenging times; with ever-growing demand and increasingly complex mental health problems that need specialist short-term interventions.
“In addition, secondary mental health services in the NHS are being cut or even closed, and waiting lists for psychiatric assessments and psychological therapy are increasing, which means university counselling services are being faced with unprecedented challenges.
“The counselling service at Birkbeck is therefore aiming to create a space for training and dialogue on key topics such as risk, suicide and trauma. The intention is to open a space where different counselling university services in the UK can meet together to learn from each other by discussing key topics and ultimately better serve the student population.”
Eleanor Mongey, Head of Student Services, said: “Birkbeck’s counselling service is recognised for its excellence in the sector and we’re glad that Charlotte and her team are developing this training series to enable the whole HE sector to share expertise to effectively address the needs of students throughout the country. We look forward to welcoming a team of hard-working counselling practitioners to our campus in September.”
For further information or to express interest in attending the conference, please contact Aura Rico on counselling-services@bbk.ac.uk