Therapeutic Support

Please note that the registration form for Mental Health and Wellbeing Service will be closed from 11am on Thursday 6th April and will reopen on Thursday 13th April at 10am. This is due to the University closed days, which mean forms cannot processed over this time.

You can still access 24/7 Counselling support all over this period through UBHeard Mental Health Support Line (birmingham.ac.uk) – including throughout all the bank holidays.

We also have a wide range of Self Help Guides which cover a whole range of different issues and are a great place to start with useful ideas and techniques. There are also lots of useful  Resources available including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy  based modules, useful videos and links to ebooks.

You can find lots of support available from  External services (birmingham.ac.uk) and if needed you can find your local urgent help for mental health .

If you feel you cannot keep yourself safe you must go to your GP asap, or if that is not possible visit your local walk in centre , your local A and E Department   or find the local mental health crisis service in your area. You can also call 999.

Please note that from 17th April 2023 we will be unable to offer ongoing sessions to final year students who are due to finish their course in June 2023. Final year students can still use our 24/7 Counselling support line UBHeard to speak with a Counsellor whenever they need support and those under 25 can access face to face mental health support on campus at Pause drop-in sessions (birmingham.ac.uk) on Wednesdays and Thursdays until they have officially graduated.

For longer term support we would encourage final year students to think where they are likely to be once they have completed their course and use NHS talking therapies - NHS (www.nhs.uk) to register for the local service that provides talking therapy. Alternatively, your GP can advise of the support available.

You can find information from the University about Services that provide immediate support here and information from the NHS about organisations who can provide immediate support here.

If you feel you cannot keep yourself safe you must go to your GP ASAP, or if that is not possible, visit your local walk in centre, your local A and E Department or find the local mental health crisis service in your area. You can also call 999.

Once you have submitted your registration form, you will receive a confirmation email that we have received it. We will then read and triage your registration form and you will receive an email telling you what service you have been allocated to and giving support available/useful resources to use while you wait for an appointment. 

You will receive to 5 ongoing therapeutic / Counselling sessions with either an in-house Practitioner or a Counsellor provided by our partnership provider, Randstad. These can be online or face-to face-depending on your preference and you will see the same person for all 5 sessions unless you want to change for any reason. 

We aim to have a first appointment offered within 30 working days of registration. Find out more about what working with a Therapeutic Practitioner involves.

If we are concerned from the information provided in your registration form that there is significant risk of harm then we will invite you for a High Risk Assessment (HRA), within 7 working days of your registration, to discuss your support needs and refer to any appropriate services. 

You may be referred to UBHeard for 24/7 Counselling support and a mental health consultation for assessment for ongoing Solution Focussed Support sessions.

UBHeard is a confidential listening and support service for all registered students (undergraduate and postgraduate) which gives you immediate emotional and mental health support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Visit the UBHeard portal.

Appointments FAQ - please read ahead of your appointment.

Unfortunately we are unable to work with students on a Leave of Absence however you can register for support with External Services and then contact us once you have returned from your Leave of Absence.

If you are a student studying abroad or a student who lives abroad and studies online and you require mental health and wellbeing services, please contact UBHeard, or your local GP/psychological services for support; your local university/study abroad contact may also help and advise you. We also have Self Help Guides & apps and online resources  which may be of benefit to you, and we will where possible support the Study Abroad team and university partners to support you. 

Please provide as much availability as you can so that we can try to allocate you as quickly as possible. We endeavour to offer appointments within your preferred availability however where this is not possible we will offer you alternative appointment times which you can choose to attend or instead use the 24/7 service UBHeard at a time of your convenience. 

It is not advised to work with more than one therapist at the same time. If you are already receiving psychological support from another agency we will ask you to re-register with Mental health and Wellbeing Service once that support has finished. 

We can only consider providing Extenuating Circumstances (EC) evidence after working with you for a minimum of two sessions and at discretion of the Practitioner you are seeing.

Unfortunately, we cannot offer ongoing sessions with externally registered students. However, you can access support through external services.

Please note that evening appointments are available but only online. Face-to-face appointments are available Monday - Friday between 08:30 and 17:00 (last appointment starting at 16:00).

UBHeard is available 24/7 for mental health support.

If you do have a concern with any aspect of your contact with us, there are several steps you can take. We'll always endeavour to handle this concern appropriately, with your wellbeing as our main priority.

• To begin with, try to talk to your Practitioner. They'll always be willing to look at the reasons for your concerns and will try to explore ways in which matters can be resolved. Please don’t worry about offending them – they'll be more than prepared to think about what might need to change in order to make your sessions more productive or to solve the issue that you've raised.
• If talking to your Practitioner doesn’t resolve matters for you, you can write to the Interim Senior Psychological Practitioner Sue Knight with your concern at Aston Webb Student Services Hub, University of Birmingham B15 2TT. If you have been seeing Sue, you may write to the Interim Head of Wellbeing and Partnerships, Drew Linforth at the same address. Your concern will be acknowledged within 5 working days, and you'll receive a full response within 2 weeks of receipt of your concern.
• After this, if you feel that your concern has still not been resolved, you can contact Drew Linforth, Interim Head of Student Wellbeing and Partnerships c/o Aston Webb Student Services Hub, University of Birmingham B15 2TT