What we can do for you

There may be a range of issues that affect your life and studies whilst at Keele or at home. Most people seek help because they want to change the way they think, feel or behave. Once we have triaged, we will look at the most appropriate pathway, this may be with our in house counselling and mental health team or may be with an external provider. If you receive support from you service you will be offered an Initial Assessment, a member of staff will carry out a standard assessment including a risk assessment. This assessment will be holistic in nature and will help us to establish your current situation and how best we can help you.

We recommend that your initial appointment is conducted face to face with the adviser most appropriate to suit your needs. If your initial assessment identifies the need for counselling, follow up appointments (usually a maximum of 6 sessions) will be arranged between you and your adviser and they are conducted using the following methods:

· In-person

· Virtual/video (MS teams)

Contacting the service

To register with the service, we do require you to complete an online registration form, this does not guarantee that you will be offered an appointment with our team, we will triage your referral and a decision will be made regarding the most appropriate pathway to suit your individual needs. You will then be contacted with an offer of an appointment with an appropriate adviser based on the information that you provide upon registration or advised with the most appropriate external service for you to contact.  The online form helps us to understand you and what you are currently experiencing and we will ask you for your Keele student number, email address and the name of your GP (our service requires that you are registered with a GP). 

The form is confidential and can only be seen by our staff.  Simply click on the 'Register with the service' button below to be redirected to the online booking system.  From here, click on 'Register for an Initial Appointment' and complete all the required sections. 

Appointment availability

Our face to face appointments are held in the Claus Moser Building, Keele, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG

Our appointments take place between 10am-4pm.  We will use the information you provide us regarding your availability when you register for an initial appointment.  

To accommodate our students, we also offer late night appointments as follows:

• Tuesday Evenings - 5pm until 7pm
• Thursday Evenings - 5pm until 7pm

Please note that the evening appointments are held in the Student Services Hub situated within the Claus Moser building and the last appointment offered would be at 6pm. *Evening appointments will be suspended over summer vacation.  

For all general enquiries you can email us at: counselling@keele.ac.uk 

• Counselling is a talking therapy and can help you explore what's happening in your current life and past experiences. 
• In your sessions you will look at how you could make changes in the future. 
• Counselling is a process which enables you to explore and make sense of issues that may be distressing you or disrupting your life.
• You may work on developing skills to help manage difficulties such as anxiety, stress, low mood and supporting yourself.
• Our short-term programme of Counselling focusses on what you want to get out of the sessions.
• We can also offer assistance with accessing other University or external services (such as the NHS).

As well as accessing in-house Counselling from our experienced team, all Keele students also have access to 'Health Assured', which is a 24 hour helpline available for all our students. Find out more here.

• Mental Health Support is a service offered to students where counselling might not be appropriate or it might not be what you want.
• It is available to students who are currently experiencing mental health problems or psychological and emotional issues.
• Our team will support you to manage your symptoms and behaviours and if you already have a mental health diagnosis, we can act as a link between you and local NHS teams.
• You may also be provided with a Support Plan to identify any particular requirements that you may have.
• We will liaise with your academic department, other support agencies either within the University or externally, on your behalf. 

Your first appointment will last 45 to 60 minutes, and we will discuss what you have told us on the online registration form. You will also have the opportunity to tell us things which you may not have been comfortable writing down.

At the end of the first session, you will be given a copy of the outcome of the assessment.

   In crisis?

Our Counselling and Mental Health Team at Keele are not an emergency service.  If you need advice for yourself or someone else please see our information about external support services.