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Will the Counselling Service meet your needs: frequently asked questions

Our team of professional and experienced counsellors provide a space to explore your thoughts and feelings confidentially and without judgement. Talking to someone impartial can provide relief; the counsellor will not give you advice, but they will help to clarify your struggles and make connections between different aspects of your life.

If you're thinking about seeing a counsellor then the questions below can help you decide if the service will meet your needs.

Is counselling for me?

Am I eligible for counselling at Birkbeck?

  • All Birkbeck students have the opportunity to meet with one of our counsellors for a therapeutic consultation. The counsellor will then discuss with you whether further sessions would be helpful. Generally, we can only offer a student a series of sessions once in each academic year.

Will I have to pay?

  • The service is free and available to all students.

Is the counselling Service Accessible For students with a disability?

  • The Birkbeck Counselling Service has both ground floor counselling rooms and rooms on the fourth floor. Please let us know of any individual or access needs when booking your initial therapeutic consultation. We recognise that not all disabilities are physical.
  • Remember to complete a Study Support Plan in order for Birkbeck staff to be able to support your academic needs.
  • You may be eligible for the Disabled Students' Allowance which is government-funded support for disabled students studying in higher education. This is non-means tested funding which you don't have to pay back. 

Can a counsellor help if I'm thinking of dropping out of university?

  • Sometimes leaving seems the right thing to do, but it's important not to rush into a decision until you've thought it through. If you're thinking about dropping out you might find it helpful to talk it over with a counsellor. It's also helpful to see a student adviser to think through your finances and your future options - contact the .

Accessing the service

How long will I wait for an appointment?

  • Generally students will be offered an initial appointment within 2 weeks of contacting the service: at busy times of year this can increase and it also depends on how available you can be for appointments during the week. 
  • You can help cut down the waiting times by offering as much availability as possible, by cancelling unwanted appointments or advising us if you are unable to attend as soon as possible so that we can offer the slot to another student.

Why do you need my GP details?

  • We ask for your GP details because we need to be able to contact them if we are concerned about you. Unless it is an emergency, we will always discuss with you and get your consent to share information with third parties before doing so. If you are not already registered with a GP in London, all Birkbeck students are eligible to register with Gower Street Practice NHS.

Do you offer evening or weekend appointments?

  • We can offer appointments on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. We are not able to offer appointments at weekends.

Do you work online or in person?

  • We offer both online and in person appointments, and you will be able to express a preference when you register with the service.

Do I need to access all the sessions offered?

Consultation Process

What is a therapeutic consultation?

  • We call Therapeutic Consultation, your first meeting with a counsellor, if this is the first time you access the service or you haven't accessed it for a while, a consultation that can last up to 90 minutes.
  • Here you have the opportunity to talk about your difficulties with one of our accredited counsellors and to consider what kind of support might be most helpful. This may include directing you to appropriate self-help resources, referral to a workshop, sign-posting and referral to internal and external agencies and specialist services, or referral to either a therapeutic group or short-term counselling.
  • Sometimes a one-off therapeutic consultation may be all that is needed to help a student resolve their immediate difficulties.
  • Once you have been offered a consultation, you need to confirm within 48 hours before the appointment that you can attend. Due to high demand for the service, if you do not confirm, the appointment may be offered to someone else.

Once in Counselling

What is counselling and how is it different from psychotherapy?

  • All our counsellors are trained psychotherapists. We describe our service as a counselling service as we offer short, focussed interventions to meet the individual needs of the student. This may involve signposting, referring you to a workshop, offering a supportive space, or linking you up with other more practical support. Or it may involve a series of ongoing sessions of brief psychotherapy, where you and your counsellor will delve deeper into underlying issues and patterns in your life making links between past experiences and your present difficulties.

How long is a counselling session?

  • Apart from your Therapeutic Consultation, all sessions will be 50 minutes.

How often will my counselling sessions be?

  • Appointments are generally weekly but the frequency of meetings will be agreed during the consultation process.

Is the counselling session confidential? Will my tutor know?

Who are the counsellors?

  • The Counselling Service is staffed by a team of professionally trained and experienced psychodynamic psychotherapists. We work to the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy Code of Ethics and Practice, details of which can be obtained from the service.
  • Inclusivity statement: All our counsellors are committed to practising counselling in ways that are inclusive, accessible and affirming to students from all backgrounds, cultures, ethnicity, beliefs, sexualities, abilities, gender identities and socio-economies.  The Counselling Service promotes and enhances inclusivity through ongoing training commitments.

Can I see a counsellor one-to-one?

If I see a counsellor, what information will be kept about me?

  • Your counsellor will keep brief notes. All records are kept online and only available to the Birkbeck Counselling Service using a double authentication system. It's a legal requirement for counselling notes to be kept for six years. After that time, they are destroyed. Under the Data Protection Act, clients have the right to access all their notes. If you want to see your notes, you should ask your counsellor or email the Counselling Service, allowing two weeks' notice.

Can I get a letter for mitigating circumstances from a counsellor?

  • We can only provide letters giving evidence of attendance at counselling and we are only able to provide these for students who are known to us. This usually means that you must have been attending counselling over a period of time. We do not include any details of what has been spoken about in the sessions and we require written consent from you to write this letter.

Will my counsellor be able to offer me a diagnosis?

  • The short answer is no: but your counsellor will carefully discuss with you what might be going on and may make some recommendations or referrals if you wish to pursue a diagnosis.

Can I ask for a specific type of counsellor?

  • We will try to accommodate requests, but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to fulfil them due to availability within the service. All our counsellors are highly trained and experienced, and have a non-judgmental, empathic stance.

Not what you were hoping for?

Can I request to change counsellor?

  • Sometimes counselling can stir up some difficult feelings, and it may be tempting to think that a change of therapist would be beneficial: if this is your experience, you should first speak to your counsellor about the difficulties you are having, as talking them through and trying to find a resolution may well be beneficial and illuminating. However, if this does not work out, you may request a change of counsellor by emailing the who will be in touch in order to understand more about what has been difficult. This may result in you being offered a different counsellor.

How do I complain if I am not happy with the service?

  • If you wish to make a complaint about any aspect of the Birkbeck Counselling Service you should discuss your complaint with your counsellor.  If after this you are still not satisfied, please submit your complaint in writing via email to the

What if I am worried about someone else?

I feel I need urgent support, what do I do?