Indeed, poor mental health is a nationwide issue with a 2023 survey by the charity Student Minds identifying more than 1\/3 of students reporting struggling with their mental health, leaving colleges and universities with the immense task of providing adequate student support.<\/p>\n
Recognising the intense demand on Aberdeen\u2019s service, Head of the University\u2019s Counselling Service Anna Shea tells The Gaudie<\/i> that Autumn is the busiest time of year for the service, meaning appointments are quickly snapped up when they are released.<\/p>\n
However, Ms Shea insists the University is prepared for the pressures of winter, sharing that the service is offering more appointments than ever before, with provisions made over the Christmas break:<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the University Counselling Service we open up new appointments every week and deliberately only allow sessions to be booked around 2 weeks in advance. This approach allows us to regularly and continually offer new bookable sessions, and avoids the whole service being fully booked up for months ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf students would like to book an appointment, they should visit\u202fhttps:\/\/www.abdn.ac.uk\/students\/support\/book-appointment.php<\/b><\/a>. The best time to do this is on\u202fThursday\u202fafternoons, when we release new sessions on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n \u202f\u201cDuring the holidays\u202fthe Student Helpline will still be available 24\/7, on 0808 196 2707.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n While the University benefitted from a \u00a390,000 yearly grant from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) from 2019 to 2022, the ending of the grant saw the service\u2019s funding drop from almost \u00a3365,000 in 2021\/2022, to \u00a3262,000 in 2022\/2023.<\/p>\n A successful campaign in the same year, led by former AUSA Vice President for Welfare Sai Shraddha Viswanthan resulted in the University committing to fund the service, addressing the large number of students presenting with mental health concerns. Despite decreased funding, the University seems to have stuck to its promise<\/p>\n The number of counsellors in the 2017\/2018 academic year was seven \u2013 despite a slashed budget, the service was able to maintain the additional two counsellors hired during the SFC\u2019s cash injection, allowing students and staff the chance to book appointments with 9 counsellors, offering a range of therapies from person-centred counselling to specialised trauma therapies and couple\u2019s counselling.<\/p>\n The University\u2019s commitment to the service is notable \u2013 anecdotal reports suggest NHS Grampian does not offer counselling in the city, instead recommending patients contact local charities ACIS and Cairns. When asked, an NHS Grampian spokesperson insisted counselling support is available in specific cases:<\/p>\n “We continue to offer a range of specialised counselling and mental health support depending on the needs and comorbidities of individuals. Counselling skills are also used by and embedded within many health professionals’ practice to aid their work.”<\/p>\n One 2nd year student who used the service in 2023 says that although the service was readily accessible, they felt it was surface level:<\/p>\n \u201cI went to the session, got told to do some breathing exercises and was sent on my way. For someone in very poor mental health, this wasn\u2019t a great help.\u201d<\/p>\n The student felt their struggles required more specialist NHS support:<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems the service isn\u2019t equipped to deal with complex mental health issues like I was experiencing at the time so being able to refer students to a specialised service that can offer them the support they need, when they need it, would be invaluable.\u201d<\/p>\n It is clear the service is attempting to bridge the gap in the NHS\u2019 provision, with one 4th year Politics and Anthropology student saying her experience with the University\u2019s counselling service in 2022 wasn\u2019t helpful:<\/p>\n \u201cI contacted the service because I was struggling with depression and ADHD, and I can\u2019t be medicated for both. I was sent a workbook [from the counselling service] that basically told me to go for a walk, which<\/p>\n I already knew. I just needed some support, but instead I felt invalidated and stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n Thankfully, it seems many other students have a positive experience with the service. Hannah, an Anthropology and Archaeology student says the service has had a long-term impact on her:<\/p>\n \u201cI found the service really helpful, my counsellor was attentive, kind, and always listened to my worries. She also shared some of her own experiences to increase feelings of trust in the sessions. She taught me a lot of \u2018coping mechanisms\u2019 for my overthinking which I still use today, 2 years on. It helped me approach my studies with a different more positive mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n Another third-year student said the service allowed them to continue in their studies:<\/p>\n \u201cI was really struggling, and I was at the point of just totally withdrawing. Student Support helped me to access counselling, and I was able to meet a counsellor the next week.<\/p>\n The counsellor helped me talk through some really difficult issues which were having a big impact on my studies and life. I am so grateful that the service is available, and that I didn\u2019t have to wait. If I had to wait, I\u2019m not sure I would still be a student.\u201d<\/p>\n Whilst the University\u2019s funding pressures continue, it seems the University\u2019s commitment to the service is long-term. But for how long can the institution carry the weight of an underfunded NHS?<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Requests for the service have risen sharply, with a 64% increase of students seeking the service\u2019s talking therapies. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":5017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":70,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[186,184,188,185,187,189,183],"wf_post_folders":[181],"class_list":{"0":"post-4101","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-anna-shea","9":"tag-counselling-service","10":"tag-kirsten-koss","11":"tag-nhs-grampian","12":"tag-sai-shraddha-s-viswanthan","13":"tag-student-minds","14":"tag-university-of-aberdeen"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Kirsten Koss","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/kirsten-koss\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/6135079-300x200.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Anna Shea<\/a>","counselling service<\/a>","Kirsten Koss<\/a>","NHS Grampian<\/a>","Sai Shraddha S. Viswanthan<\/a>","Student Minds<\/a>","University of Aberdeen<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Anna Shea<\/span>","counselling service<\/span>","Kirsten Koss<\/span>","NHS Grampian<\/span>","Sai Shraddha S. Viswanthan<\/span>","Student Minds<\/span>","University of Aberdeen<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 2 December 2024","modified":"Updated on 13 January 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 2 December 2024 16:11","modified":"Updated on 13 January 2025 20:51"},"featured_img_caption":"Photo by Photo By: Kaboompics.com<\/a> on Pexels<\/a>","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4101"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5031,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4101\/revisions\/5031"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4101"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=4101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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