Changes to the referral system for the University Counselling Service have caused concern amongst students this week. It has emerged that the number of sessions offered by the service will be dramatically cut this term.
Previously, students who were referred, either by staff members or themselves, would be assigned a counsellor, with whom they would meet and decide on the best course of action. If it was established that they would benefit from weekly sessions, then these would take place without any further assessment.
However, owing to the strain placed on resources at this time of year, the service has changed its policy. Instead of initially offering ongoing counselling, students will be given just two sessions, before having to “re-refer” themselves and then wait to be allocated support again.
Alan Percy, Head of the Counselling Service, explained that the measure is necessary to give everyone the best chance of access to the service. He commented, “The beginning of Hilary term is always the busiest time of year for the counselling service in every university. As a temporary measure, we have introduced a system guaranteeing an initial session with a follow-up session for those students who can be helped with a brief intervention, as we want to see as many students as possible before the end of term. This measure has been introduced in previous Hilary terms and has proved to be successful in bringing down waiting times.”
He added, “The service will continue to see students for on-going support. Where this is needed and appropriate, students will also be offered support through the service’s group work provision and self-help resources.”The Counselling Service is one of a number of support systems that are in place for students at Oxford. The services offered include one-to-one counselling, group counselling, self-help guidance and workshops. Where appropriate, there is also liaison with GPs and other professionals.
The recent change has elicited a mixed response from the student population. The main concern is that those students who are most vulnerable are going to be left without the help that they need, simply due to a lack of resources. One such student, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “I’m really disappointed about this development in the counselling service. Last term I was having weekly sessions and felt like they were really helping, but when I started a new set of sessions with a different counsellor this term, I was told I could only have one more after. I feel really let down by this, and I just can’t afford to pay for counselling privately. I don’t think people understand how important this is, I’m genuinely really worried about not having access to the help that I need.”
However, Kirstie Mok, Women’s Welfare rep at St Catz, focused more on the strain that can be placed on these services, commenting, “I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, especially if they feel they wouldn’t be able to cope with the number of referrals otherwise. There will always be the danger of someone slipping through the net and not getting follow-up counselling after the two appointments, but given the experience and training of the people who work at the Counselling Service, I don’t think this is likely to happen. It sounds like they are just going to make better use of all the other support networks and resources available.”
One second year student commented, “If this is a question of resources, then the University surely needs to look at what it can do financially to help. Leaving students without adequate support in the ‘pressure cooker’ that is Oxford is a dangerous thing to do. If they want students to excel academically, then they have to support them.”
