ANU Counselling

Counselling is a talking therapy where you meet with a professional to work through problems that may be affecting your life. Our counselling model focusses on achieving specific emotional or practical goals, and working with you to find solutions to what's happening for you. We take a strength based approach, holistic approach. This means we see you as a whole person, and an individual with your own strengths, resources and ways to cope. Counselling aims to build on or strengthen what is currently working for you and understands you are the expert in your own life.

People come to counselling with different concerns about their life, study, work, coping or relationships. Your concern does not have to be related to your studies to access ANU Counselling, and you do not need to have a mental health care plan or a mental health diagnosis.

ANU Counselling is a non-diagnostic service. This means that we do not label or diagnose mental health disorders. We work with your particular concern and help you develop a plan or strategies to manage this concern. If you would like to receive a diagnosis, please speak with your GP.

Your first counselling session will involve a detailed discussion about your concerns and working with the counsellor to help make sense of what is happening. Together, you and your counsellor will develop a plan to assist in managing this concern. Sometimes you may only need one counselling session, other times you may require multiple sessions.

All counselling appointments will be booked for 50 minutes.

Counsellors draw from a range of different, evidence-based interventions that have been used across diverse cultures. If you have a specific form of therapy you want to access, please speak with your counsellor at your appointment, and they can help you find the right person or service.

Sometimes, we may not be the best service for you, and we may discuss other services outside of ANU and help you to engage with them.

ANU Counselling is available to all students enrolled and studying in the current semester at the ANU. Students must also be located within Australia at the time of their booked appointment. Students overseas are encouraged to contact our reception staff so we can advise on alternative support options.

Case Managers from the Student Safety and Wellbeing Team can provide short-term, practical support to students experiencing issues that can impact their university experience and academic engagement. They can also help students navigate ANU and community systems to link them in with ongoing support as needed.

ANU Counselling provides therapeutic counselling to ANU students. This involves problem solving and building your skills to assist in overcoming or managing challenges.

Each service is an individual service, and therefore your information is not automatically shared between the teams. If you want your counsellor and case manager to share information, you will need to provide consent. Providing this consent will enable us to work collaboratively, and limit the number of times you need to share your story. On rare occasions where we are concerned about your safety, information may need to be shared without your consent.

Both the ANU Psychology Clinic and ANU Counselling  provide counselling (one on one therapy) as well as group programs.

ANU Counselling are staffed by soical workers and psychologists who all have a minimum of five years' experience. We are a free, non-diagnostic service available only to currently enrolled ANU students who are based in Australia.

The ANU Psychology Clinic is staffed by provisional psychologists and clinical psychologists, the provisional psychologists on their team are overseen by the clinical psychologists whilst they work at the clinic. There is a cost involved with the ANU Psychology Clinic and it is open to the public. The ANU Psychology Clinic can also provide assessment for emotional and behavioural problems.

In line with research and student feedback, ANU Counselling provides fortnightly appointments at the same time each fortnight to support progress towards your goals.

Occasionally, your counsellor might suggest that four-weekly appointments would better suit your needs.

Alternatively, you may find that a single session will be sufficient. This will be discussed with you during your Intake appointment over the phone.

Research suggests that most people will have their counselling needs met through a brief intervention model. This is a short, purposeful and non-judgemental therapy designed to understand the issues that brought you to counselling and to work with you to develop strategies to overcome/manage them.

At ANU Counselling, typically, students participate in around one to four sessions.

Counselling appointments in the brief intervention model are conducted at the same time each fortnight so that all students can have fortnightly appointments. If you are no longer able to make your regular appointment time, please email counselling.centre@anu.edu.au. Please note that there may be a wait for an appointment if you need to alter your regular appointment time.

We ask that you provide us with at least 2 business days’ notice if you need to cancel your appointment. This is to provide the opportunity for another student to use this appointment time. If you don’t provide us with 2 business days’ notice, this will count towards the number of sessions you have with the service.

We understand that contacting our service and then waiting for an appointment can be stressful. Students new to our service are often seen within a month. This is much quicker than other services within the wider Canberra or Australian community.

Unlike some other mental health services, we do not close our referrals or have a wait list. This means all students can book an appointment, regardless of how many other students are accessing the service.

If you require more urgent support, please talk to our team about other options that may be available for you to access. If it is an emergency, please contact 000.

If you need to speak with someone immediately, please see our contacts and community services page for other resources that might be available for you.

As a general rule, wait times for appointments tend to be the longest around the examination period(s).

We tend to have more frequent availability at the beginning of semesters and during the Summer and Winter breaks.

If you know you might need support around exam time, we recommend booking ahead of time to give you the best opportunity of getting an appointment at a suitable time.

If you need help before your next appointment, please complete this form or contact reception to discuss your current needs. Sometimes we may be able to arrange an earlier appointment with your regular, or another counsellor. Other times, there are other supports available within the ANU or the wider community that may be able to help you before your next appointment. Sometimes our team may be able to address your worry over the phone.

Speaking with a person will ensure you are getting to the right service, person and have access to the quickest appointment available. Therefore, we are unable to have an online booking system.

We know that sometimes contacting services, particularly a counselling service, can be worrisome. If you have concerns please call us, send us an email, or come to our reception.

In most cases, only the Counselling Team will know that you have booked an appointment.

Everything you say in your session will be kept private and confidential between you and the Counselling service. There are some exceptions to this - if we are worried about your safety, or someone else's safety, we may need to let someone else know of the situation to ensure everyone has the appropriate support outside of your session. 

Brief notes are recorded by your counsellor about what was covered in your session to help them remember what was discussed and what the plan was. Only ANU Counsellors have access to this information. Academic staff are not privy to this information.

In rare occasions, there may be a legal requirement to release your notes to a relevant authority.

If you have concerns about your information and privacy, please speak with your counsellor.

More information can be found in our Privacy Policy here.

The counsellors of ANU Counselling are psychologists, social workers, counsellors with a Masters degree, mental health nurses and occupational therapists.

If would you like to learn more, the Our Team page has detailed information about each of our counsellors. 

Each counsellor has their own individual style, and may be trained in different therapeutic models. If you feel the counsellor you have seen is not the right fit for you, and you feel comfortable raising this with your counsellor, they might be able to help you find the right person or service who can meet your needs.

If you do not feel comfortable raising this with your counsellor, please contact reception and ask to be booked in with another counsellor. Please note there may be a longer wait between your appointments if you are switching counsellors.

ANU Counselling is available to all students currently studying at the ANU and who are in Australia, with the purpose to provide practical and therapeutic support and assist you in overcoming challenges and staying well. At times, if we have had contact with a student during distressing periods, we may be able to provide supporting documentation if relevant to the issues they were seeking counselling support for, and if we have knowledge of your ongoing circumstances.

An ANU Counsellor may not be able to provide you with supporting documentation at your first appointment. However, you are still welcome to come and discuss your situation if you want support in coping with or overcoming your current circumstances.

If you have not had contact with ANU Counselling around the time you are seeking documentation for, you may wish to speak with your GP or other support staff in the university or at your residential hall.

We cannot provide supporting documentation for medical issues, only issues that require input from a mental health practitioner.

Yes, you are still able to access ANU Counselling, even if you have additional support from other services. 

However, seeing one person consistently helps you to have clear goals and a plan to overcome your challenges. It also reduces the number of times you need to re-tell your story. At times, we may ask for your permission to contact other services involved in your care, to make sure we are all working effectively together.

Yes, we send you an SMS reminder three business days before your appointment.

Together, you and your counsellor will develop a plan that will help to manage your current concerns.

At times, this may include you making contact with other services within the University, or having your counsellor contact other services on your behalf. Before a counsellor can reach out to another service, you need to provide us with your permission to do so.

Some services that we regularly refer students to are:

• Student Safety and Wellbeing Team
• Accessibility
• Careers
• Academic Skills
• ANUSA
• Student Central
• Your Academic College
• The Dean of Students
• Student Life

Our area of expertise lies within student wellbeing and mental health. Our counsellors may be able to refer you to other parts of the University that can provide you with specific advice around your degree, or academic program, such as your Academic College, or the Dean of Students.

You can refer to the Key Student Contacts webpage for a list of contacts, and further information.

The Accessibility team supports students within the ANU community whose participation in academic studies is impacted by physical and learning disabilities, mental health conditions, chronic medical conditions, and short-term illnesses/conditions.

As ANU Counselling is a non-diagnostic service, we are unable to complete the Health Practitioners Report for your Accessibility application. Please speak with your counsellor or the Accessibility team if you are having difficulty finding someone to complete the report. 

Appointments can be booked for either in person, or on Zoom. 

If your appointment will be in person, we are located on Level 3 of the Pauline Griffin Health and Wellbeing Centre, Building 156 Joplin Lane, Kambri. 

If your appointment is booked for a Zoom session, you will be sent a link at the time of your booked appointment. If you have not received a link within 10 - 15 minutes of your appointment, please contact the reception team. 

To be eligible for Zoom appointments, you need to be located within Australia. If you are not located in Australia, or are currently travelling overseas, you must utilise services available to you in your current location.

You may request to be anonymous or to use a pseudonym. If it is impracticable for ANU Counselling to work with you using a pseudonym, or where it is required or authorised by law to deal with identified individuals, we will not be able to use a pseudonym. In most cases it will not be possible for you to be anonymous when using the service.