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Insights & resources

New training snippet video: A practical exercise for when you are working with a student who is feeling overwhelmed or finding it hard to focus

Writer: Levi Pay
Levi Pay
Aug 18, 2025
1 min read

Updated: Jul 20

When you're next working with a student who is feeling overwhelmed or finding it hard to focus, try using this practical "three circles exercise". 


This exercise comes in very useful for all student-facing colleagues in higher education - whether you work in an academic role, a professional services role, or a role in another student-facing organisation - such as a students' union or accommodation provider.



We would love to hear what you think. Have you used a technique like this to help a student to draw on their inner resources and develop greater self-reliance? Can you imagine finding this helpful in your work with students? Share your thoughts on LinkedIn and feel free to tag us in (@Plinth House). And, if you liked this training snippet, feel free to feel free to share it with your colleagues and networks.


And why not explore our forthcoming live training events and ready-to-run training courses, which are always as practical as we can make them! We deliver three courses designed for student-facing colleagues - Managing distressed students, Balancing compassion with boundaries when working with students and Fostering students' self-reliance using practical coaching skills.



 
 
Our next training events
Policy Pitstop: Conducting risk assessments in complex student cases (free event)

Policy Pitstop: Conducting risk assessments in complex student cases (free event)

17 Nov 2026

Level Two 'Safeguarding in practice in higher education': an online training event (two half-day sessions)

Level Two 'Safeguarding in practice in higher education': an online training event (two half-day sessions)

24 Nov 2026

Balancing compassion with boundaries when working with students: a half-day online training event

Balancing compassion with boundaries when working with students: a half-day online training event

3 Dec 2026

Explore our training courses

Fostering students' self-reliance using practical coaching skills

This practical course explores the nature of coaching, the GROW coaching model, how to frame effective coaching questions, and what a coaching approach looks like in practice when working with students.

Practical coaching skills - hero image.jpg
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