Appointments

Before coming to see us, we ask you to complete an online form. Once you have, we will contact you and offer you a time to come and see us.

Giving us this information before your first appointment helps us to understand you and what you are currently experiencing. You will need to provide your Keele student number, an email address and the name of your GP (our service requires that you are registered with a GP). If you are struggling with the form, you could ask a tutor, member of staff or friend to fill out the form with you. It's important though that this is done with you and not for you.

The form is confidential and can only been seen by our staff.

Your first appointment will last up to 45 minutes and will be a space for you to elaborate on what you will have told us when you filled out your online forms. Of course, at your first appointment, you can also tell us things which you didn't feel comfortable writing down.

Our team is committed to working with you in managing and/or resolving the problems you might be experiencing, or even the things that have happened in the past.

At the end of this first session, we will talk through our recommendations and ask you what you feel is best. It is likely that this session will have outcomes such as:

• Some web-based help for you to try. Alongside this, you will be given a follow-up appointment where we can review how you are doing, and arrange any further assistance. For example, we might suggest you attend a Mindfulness or Self-Compassion Development Workshop, or offer to refer you to the University's gym at the Sport Centre.
• A recommendation that counselling might be of benefit to you. We will talk this through with you and then you will be given a few days to think about whether you want this. If you decide that counselling is what you want, then you must let us know and we'll make you an appointment for ongoing counselling sessions.
• Together, we might decide that specialist mental health advice and support would benefit you, or there may be other support provided by other University Student Services that could help. If specialist mental health support is needed, then we can refer you for an assessment with someone from our Mental Health Support team. If your needs are assessed to be particularly complex, then we will agree a plan with you, which might involve local NHS mental health services and some support from Counselling and Mental Health Support at the University.