University Counselling Centre

University Centre, UC 5000
Hours: Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Telephone: 709 864 8874
www.mun.ca/counselling

The primary function of the University Counselling Centre is to help students develop and expand their personal and academic capabilities.

Through individualized personal and group counselling, professional faculty at the centre, with the assistance of supervised pre-doctoral psychology residents and practicum students from the various professional psychology training programs on campus, help students to develop and expand their own unique resources. The centre offers a number of academic support programs in which students learn to apply strategies for handling university level academic work more effectively. This includes a number of structured seminars and workshops as well as a full three credit-hour course (Applied Cognitive and Affective Learning Strategies - UCC 2020) designed to enhance the learning skills of undergraduate students.

Psychiatric outpatient services are provided to students with a referral from their family physician (in the community or from Student Health).

As an integral part of the academic community, counselling centre faculty are also involved in applied research, teaching, graduate training, outreach, service to the profession of psychology and consultation to the community at large. The centre is also the testing site for many advanced degree admissions GRE, LSAT, DAT. With the exception of special assessments, advanced degree admissions testing and UCC 2020, all services are free to registered students.

Students in Crisis

A crisis counsellor is available Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. for students who feel they need to be seen immediately. Students are seen on a first-come, first-served basis.

Students in on-campus housing and in crisis after hours, may talk to their residence assistant or proctor. Students not in on-campus housing and in crisis after hours, may go to a local emergency room for assistance.

Individual and Personal Counselling

Licensed professionals (psychologists, counsellors, psychiatrists), along with supervised psychology residents and practicum students, provide primarily short- term therapy for students experiencing problems in personal, academic and/or career matters.

Students can come to the counselling centre for assistance with a variety of personal issues, such as stress, depression, anxiety, relationship problems, family-of-origin conflict, loneliness, abuse, eating disorders, anger management, substance abuse and uncertainties about sexual orientation.

If you are seeking counselling for personal issues, you will need to make an appointment with an intake counsellor who will help you determine how the counselling centre can best meet your needs. In your first appointment, you and your intake counsellor will work out how the centre can best help you.

Group Counselling

Group counselling is often the preferred approach for resolving issues facing students.

Some groups are routinely offered (e.g. Developing Healthy Relationships, Mood and Anxiety Management, Body Acceptance, Career Planning, Healthy Lifestyles). More focused groups are offered in response to student needs. For example, groups focusing on eating disorders or gender issues have been offered as well.

Group counselling sessions are generally weekly and range from one hour to two hours usually for the duration of the semester.