We want all students to know that the Wellbeing and Mental Health team is here for you. No matter what level you’re studying at or what may be going on in your personal or academic life, you can come to us for support. Our dedicated team sits within Student Services and consists of Wellbeing Advisers, Mental Health Advisers and Counsellors. Whichever site or university centre you are studying at – the team is here for you.
What do we do?
Let’s start with Student Wellbeing Advisers – this team of advisers has a broad knowledge of university processes and the support options available to students.
You can book a 30-minute appointment with one of our advisers which may take place over telephone, video call or in person at some sites.
During this appointment you can talk about anything that may be affecting your wellbeing or studies; whether you are feeling lonely or homesick, struggling to cope, feeling stressed and anxious about deadlines or placements, or having problems at home – whatever it is, you can talk about it. The adviser will listen, give advice and support options, and will create a personalised action plan to support you in your next steps. The advice will vary and will be tailored to your needs. Actions that an adviser may suggest include:
- Practical strategies (something you can go away and try)
- Online support groups, courses and resources
- Wellbeing sessions
- Encouraging engagement with Study Skills or talking about extensions and deferrals
- Suggestions to engage with other teams such as Counselling, Disability and Inclusion, Volunteering and Mentoring or Chester Students’ Union
- Linking you to support outside of the University
To make an appointment with a Wellbeing Adviser, you can call or email our central Student Services team on studentservices@chester.ac.uk or 01244 511550.
Our Counsellors provide a short-term counselling service which students can refer themselves to. They can help with all sorts of concerns. Some of the common themes seen by our counsellors include:
- stress
- anxiety
- depressed mood
- low self-esteem
- interpersonal problems.
Counsellors provide a dedicated, safe space to work with you in achieving your counselling goals. Click here to find out more.
To refer yourself for counselling, please email student.counselling@chester.ac.uk.
Students who are suffering from emotional or psychological distress, may also be referred to our Mental Health Advisers who can provide guided self-help and support, links with local mental health services and education around managing mental health. This referral would usually come from a Wellbeing Adviser or Counsellor.
Additional support
As a complement to our one-to-one support, the Wellbeing and Mental Health team deliver regular group sessions throughout the academic year. Some examples of sessions that took place last academic year include:
- A four-part relaxation programme to promote calm and help with anxiety and stress.
- Online self-help sessions on topics including motivation and mood, sleep, social anxiety and unhelpful thinking.
- A male mental health group aimed at providing a safe space for men to talk about their mental health.
- Our recently launched peer support networks – our Student Parent Support Network and Student Menopause Support Networks are aimed at providing supportive spaces for students with similar challenges to connect.
- Calm and supportive in-person events for students experiencing social anxiety and shyness wishing to connect with others.
- Click here for the latest information on our current sessions and how you can join
- If you have any questions or have a great idea for a session, group or network, please get in touch by emailing studentservices@chester.ac.uk.
24/7 Support
Our teams work Monday-Friday during office hours and mostly offer scheduled appointments, however we understand that life’s problems, mental health issues and other concerns don’t always fit neatly into those boxes and that sometimes, you just need to talk to someone there and then. We know some students are parents, have placements, are working or have caring commitments and want to access support in the evenings or early mornings.
To support with these needs, we have a 24/7 Student Assistance Programme delivered by Health Assured which you can access 365 days of the year. You can call the dedicated helpline on 0800 028 3766 at any time to access emotional support and practical guidance.
Through this service you can also speak with legal advisors and you can access up to six telephone-based counselling sessions per issue, per term with a qualified therapist from a diverse team. You can read more about the Student Assistance Programme here.
Anxious about talking on the phone? You can access support via Live Chat on the Wisdom app.
Free for all students, the Wisdom app provides a Live Chat feature so you can receive virtual support when a Counsellor is online and available.
On the app you’ll also find lots of useful wellbeing and mental health features, including:
- Wellbeing trackers
- Mini health checks
- Four-week structured health plans
- Access to lots of useful videos and podcasts, including yoga workouts, recipe ideas and guided meditation.
Download it from your app store (App Store, Play Store) and enter the code MHA 146072 to get started.