Print PageWhy do students come for counselling?
Students experience a great many stresses in their lives - sorting out one's identity, establishing and maintaining important relationships, coping with anxiety and depression, working on changing relationships with parents and other family members, dealing with losses, handling new academic demands.
Most people come to the Counselling Centre when their usual ways of handling problems aren't working well for some reason. They may have found, for instance, that talking to friends or family about their problem is impossible or unsatisfying. Many students who come feel upset in some way - depressed, angry, scared, or confused. These upsetting feelings may have been set off by a number of situations:
- Trying to begin or maintain a relationship
- Feeling the loss of someone close
- Concentration problems while studying
- Anxiety about tests or speaking in class
- Questions about "coming out" or other identity issues
- Procrastinating too much
- Wondering why one is in college
- Becoming aware one may have a problem with alcohol or drugs
- Struggling to become independent from parents, or not to lose touch with one's family
- Concern about family members or friends who have something wrong, such as a drinking problem, divorce, serious illness, or death
- Reacting to an unwanted pregnancy or a traumatic experience such as rape
There are many other reasons people come for counselling. Personal counselling is a chance to learn how to resolve personal problems or issues that are puzzling or upsetting, talk with someone not personally involved with a situation who can give feedback from a different perspective, and learn new skills and ways of looking at situations to become more capable at solving problems in the future. Services are free, and confidentiality is guaranteed within legal and ethical guidelines.
Some students may worry that their concerns would appear too insignificant or unimportant to bring to counselling, while others may believe that their problems have no solution or that finding help is not possible. The Counselling Service is a good place to discuss and explore those questions. Some concerns can be addressed in a single session, while others may require additional time and effort. In all cases, we will do our best to help, or to assist you in finding help, should a referral be appropriate.
How do you make an appointment for counselling?
You can make an appointment for counselling either by phoning the Student Counsellor, Ger Quiney on 087-2406908 or 8851321, by e-mailing her at ger.quiney@itb.ie or by dropping in to Room A2. If Ger is not available or is meeting with another student, you can leave a note and she will contact you as soon as she is free.
Your phone number or mobile will be used only to call/text to confirm your appointment, or to change it if necessary. When texting a neutral message such as, "Please call about our meeting," or something like that will be left and there will be no reference to the Counselling Office.
Keeping appointments is very important. If an emergency arises, please notify Ger as soon as possible that you will not be attending. This allows the time to be offered to another student. As you may have experienced, there are times when the demand for services means that students have to wait (longer than any of us would like) to be seen.
What happens during the first session at the Counselling Center?
The first thing you will do is complete some background information. During the session with the counsellor, several things will be accomplished. First, you will have a chance to describe why you are seeking counselling, and why you chose this particular time to do so. Also of interest will be things like how long you have been troubled by this problem, what you have tried in the past to solve it, whether it resembles problems you have had in the past, something about your family background, and other possible areas of interest like a history of abuse, substance use, and general health.
Along with individual counselling, the Student Counselling Service will be offering a variety of groups and workshops throughout the year. Some groups and workshops will vary from semester to semester while others will be offered repeatedly. The Service welcomes suggestions from students related to future groups and workshops.
