On Mon, 17 Mar 1997 16:11:18 GMT Loretto O'Callaghan
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear dis-forum. May I seek your comments please!
>
> At Imperial College and on campus is a National Health Fundholding Practice
> which employs in addition to its Doctors and nurses, a psychiatrist and
> psychotherapists.
>
> The College's Student Counsellor works independently (and independently of
> the Health Centre) and in the strictest confidence and offers a service to
> which students have direct access.
>
> Looking to the future, there is some debate here at present as to whether
> the independent service offered by the Student Counsellor should continue or
> whether it should be incorporated in the Health Centre using its
> psychotherapists.
>
> May I ask what happens at other Institutions.
>
> I am most grateful for any comments.
>
> With kind regards, Loretto.
>
Dear Loretto,
This contribution is from a "Departmental Senior Adviser". At Essex,
each undergraduate has a pastoral advisor, and a senior Advisor who is
more experienced in working with students in non-academic difficulties.
(I am also deeply involved with disability at Essex, which is why I
read the forum).
At Essex, the Counsellors share a building, but not a reception, with
the medical services (from which latter psychiatric services are
available under the normal medical model). Students refer themselves to
the counsellors, often under advice from advisers, senior advisers, or
our very good Students Union advice center.
To my mind, it would be a disaster if counsellors required medical
referral. Access times would have to increase, for a start, but the
criteria for referral would be largely taken out of the client's hands.
In my experience, you cannot successfully send someone for counselling.
They might go, but little comes of the encounter. You can often help
them to a position where they wish to go, with realistic views of the
outcome. Under these conditions counselling is very often very helpful.
We are blessed at Essex with very good counsellors (who do not yet have
access to email, to save their blushes). There are no plans here to
subsume them under our (also very good) health center. I hope there
will never be such plans.
Dave Lyons
David M. Lyons, Department of Computer Science,
University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester,
Essex, UK, C04 3SQ
Tel - (44 1026) 872674
Fax - (44 1206) 872788
WWW - http://www.essex.ac.uk/staff/lyons.html
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