Mission Statement

The mission of Goldsmiths College counselling service is to provide professional, high quality, accessible counselling   to staff & students of the College. The counsellors will support staff & students’ learning, emotional & personal development so that they can maximise their potential &  benefit from the opportunities offered by the College.  The service will actively promote mental well-being by providing consultation, training & generally raising awareness of mental health issues within the college.

Aims & Objectives

Provide effective support to students & staff which is in compliance with the BACP Ethical Framework & informed by current research on successful therapeutic outcome.

Conform to the College Mission statement & ensure compliance to anti -discriminatory  practice & legislation.

Contribute to the college’s ‘duty of care’ by having an ‘at risk’ policy to identify & provide prompt support to very vulnerable staff & students who approach the service. Provide guidance to members of staff who are supporting or having to make important decisions concerning a student or member of staff who is a risk to themselves or others.

Be as user friendly & accessible as possible at all stages of the student life cycle ensuring that good use is made of communication systems favoured by students.

Provide a range of therapeutic approaches & counselling modes including self help, groups & workshops to meet the varied needs of service users.

Keep abreast of developments within the mental health field & liaise effectively with community & NHS agencies ensuring that the service, students & staff have appropriate access to these additional therapeutic & mental health resources.

Maximise the service’s contribution to the College by managing the service cost-effectively & developing internal working systems that are user friendly, efficient & conducive to the well-being of staff & students.

Liaise effectively with other student  services/Human Resources  to share information & ensure a joined up approach (within the constraints of the service’s confidentiality policy) in the support of students & staff .

Provide information & consultative support to staff within the college.

Promote mental well-being & contribute positively to the educational/employment experience of students & staff  by sharing our expertise & understanding of the emotional issues that affect learning & development with the College community. Contribute to policy formulation when mental health issues need to be taken into account.

Monitor the professional standards of the service through review processes, evaluation forms & client feed-back.

Regularly make available to the College through annual reports, data that allows the effectiveness of the service to be monitored.

Be involved in national & local counselling forums to keep abreast of developments within the field & disseminate good practice.