Counselling Services

This website aims to introduce UWS students to the Counselling Service and to provide information about the services we offer. This site is organised into the following sections:

Advice, Appointments, Counsellors, & Emergencies
Counselling Myths, FAQ's & Online Advice
Workshops & Program Descriptions
Campus Connection
Mental Health Support - Answers That Matter

University counsellors offer free and confidential counselling to students who want to talk through and change areas of difficulty, conflict or crisis in their lives - assisting students to achieve their academic goals.

Counselling staff can help students with any new, ongoing or intermittent issues that negatively affect them and their studies.

If you are concerned about a particular issue or if you are simply interested in finding out about us, we encourage you to check out this website. Included, is some useful information in relation to the common issues that students approach us with. This website is not designed to replace the face-to-face service that we offer, rather, it can be best used as a guide for thinking about common day-to-day issues that many university students face. If you still have any concerns or questions that you feel need to be addressed by a counsellor, you should come in and visit us in person and make an appointment.

The counsellors and staff of the Counselling Service are committed to making your experience at UWS as pleasant as possible and are more than happy to assist you with any queries you may have. We welcome all UWS students regardless of age, gender, religion, cultural background, sexual orientation or disability.

Counsellors at UWS operate under the Code of Ethics of the Australian Psychological Society and The Australian Association of Social Workers. The Service is also bound by the terms of the Privacy Act. These codes and the Act provide protection for you as a client. All psychologists hold current registration in NSW. Please refer to the UWS Counselling Confidentiality and Privacy Statement for further information.

The UWS Counselling Service is located on every UWS campus and you can find us within Student Support Services. Our office hours are 9:00am to 4:30pm Monday to Friday.

To assist you with time management strategies, Student Support Services has created Daily, Weekly and Semester Planners. Go to the links below to download a copy in PDF format.

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Thinking of Dropping Out - HECS Census

The Counselling Service is a service that will assist you in your time at University. Sometimes students experience difficulties especially in their first few weeks of studies. If you are thinking of dropping out consider other options. Below is a link to a pamphlet in PDF format that may help you.

Remember that the Census Date for Spring Session is the 31 August 2007. If you want to withdraw from a subject please ensure that you do so before the Census Date.

Counselling Confidentiality & Privacy Statement

Counsellors at UWS operate under the ethical codes of The Australian Psychological Society and The Australian Association of Social Workers. The Service is also bound by the terms of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1988 and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002. These codes and the Act provide protection for you as a client. All psychologists hold current registration in New South Wales.

The information requested of you on our admission form need only be provided voluntarily. You may choose to provide all or only part of the information. There is no penalty for not providing personal information. Clients choosing not to provide any information at all, may be asked to produce their Student Identity Card to ensure that they are entitled to utilise the service.

All information provided by you will remain strictly confidential to the Service. Information obtained from you will not be released to any person outside the counselling service without your written consent. There are however a few exceptions. These are:

• Where there is a clear risk to your safety or that of others.
• Where a legally constituted court acting within its powers, requires a counsellor to provide it with a counselling file and/or to attend court as a witness.
• Where laws such as those concerning child abuse require mandatory disclosure of information.

Under the Privacy Act you may have access to your personal file if you so wish, provided the confidentiality and privacy of others is respected and that neither you, nor anyone else, is thereby put at risk. Where information in your file appears to be incorrect, you can ask that it be corrected. The purpose of counselling files is to help ensure best counselling practice. Where statistical research is undertaken, only staff of the counselling service will be involved and your personal anonymity is ensured.

You will be asked to provide home address and phone numbers on the admission form. We normally only contact clients:

• To confirm or change appointments;
• In cases of extreme emergency regarding your safety/well being;
• To ask for your voluntary participation in a client survey.

Note, counsellors have access to student academic records.

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