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Webinar: 8 essential features of every effective university counselling service
In this 60-minute webinar, which we recorded in July 2020 and have now made freely available online, we outline the features we see as essential for the most effective university counselling services. The webinar is designed to help spark and structure conversations around opportunities to enhance these services.
Based on our own experience of managing and re-modelling these services, we believe all eight of these features are essential. In other words, if any of these features are missing from an individual service, addressing these gaps would normally form the basis of our recommendations for service enhancement.
You can watch the recorded webinar below.
We delivered this webinar to colleagues in universities who manage counselling services or oversee such a team as part of their service portfolio. It may also be of interest to others who wish to see local mental health support enhanced within their institutions, including colleagues working in students' unions.
The webinar focuses on those features we see as central to enabling these teams to use their limited resources are to best effect, particularly in light of the unprecedented levels of case complexity and of student demand for mental health support.
A short webinar can only provide an introduction to these features. We welcome the opportunity to continue the conversation and answer any questions you might have. We are also planning an intensive training course providing detail and templates for the 8 features, and you can find out more about this below.
To view the webinar and download the slides:
Click on the image below to open the webinar registration page. This will enable you to register to access your own personal link to view the webinar.
This is an ‘on demand’ webinar, which means that the webinar will be available to view immediately after you register. The webinar includes subtitles and can be viewed on a wide range of devices, including laptops, tablets and mobiles.
While you are watching the webinar, you can also download a copy of the slides or ask us questions or send us comments about the content.
Supporting universities to embed these features
We regularly work with universities to embed these features within their service models. Our projects have included larger counselling service re-modelling projects, where we have introduced all of the features within a period of 7 to 14 weeks, and projects where we have been brought in to focus on just one or two of the features. The portfolio section of our website highlights a sample of our recent projects.
You are welcome to contact us to arrange an informal conversation about how we might be able to support you and your team.
Proposed residential course in early 2021
We are developing a 2- to 3-day intensive residential course for a small number of participants who want to understand all eight of these features in detail. Participants would also take away templates and practical examples that, in our view, represent best practice, to enable them to adapt and implement these in their own institutions. This event would be aimed at senior colleagues (at head or director of service level) or other colleagues seeking to enhance specialist mental health support at their institution.
The course would also include one-to-one follow-up conversations to support attendees’ implementation of these features in their own institution.
The timing and pricing of this course is still being considered. Contact us if you would like to be kept informed about this event.
If you would like us to keep in touch with you occasionally – around once a month – about our training events, webinars and other services, provide your email address here.