Writtle University College and ARU have merged. Writtle’s full range of college, degree, postgraduate and short courses will still be delivered on the Writtle campus. See our guide to finding Writtle information on this site.

Counselling and mental health support

The Counselling and Wellbeing Service is available to all ARU students and offers a free and confidential service to promote mental health and wellbeing.

You can talk in confidence to a professional counsellor, a mental health adviser or a wellbeing adviser about any personal or university-related issues that are worrying you. This could be anything from minor concerns to major issues including grief, relationship difficulties, panic attacks, exam anxieties, stress and more.

We also have a Student Sexual Violence Advocacy Service, with Student Sexual Violence Advocates (SSVAs) offer practical support around reporting processes.

Our services

Our counselling and wellbeing services include:

If you’re thinking about studying at ARU and have any questions about health and wellbeing, please email them to [email protected].

Who might be supporting me?

Counselling can help you deal with all kinds of issues, for example: grief and loss, trauma, anxiety, feeling depressed and relationship issues. We offer a confidential space to explore whatever is troubling you and can also support you with accessing external specialist support if needed.

ARU counsellors have significant experience, are all professionally qualified and either accredited or working towards accreditation with a recognised professional body. We work within the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) guidelines and the Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.

All the counsellors in our team offer a time-limited six session model, with an option to return to counselling after a 12-week break. This means you can benefit from our counselling services throughout your studies.

As well as one-to-one support our counsellors offer daily drop-ins, weekdays from 11am-12 noon.

Our mental health advisers are qualified mental health workers with significant experience in both statutory services and higher education.

They offer a range of interventions to students experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties, offering support with mental health experiences and symptoms as they arise. Support may include ongoing risk assessment and liaison with internal and external specialist services.

As well as one-to-one support, our mental health advisers offer daily drop-ins, weekdays from 11am-12 noon.

Our wellbeing advisers offer information, advice and guidance. They can support you with accessing Counselling and Wellbeing services, and other University support.

They manage self-referrals and queries from students via email, telephone and in person. Our wellbeing advisers also offer a daily drop-in, weekdays from 2-3pm.

Our Coaching Service is offered by trained professionals with accredited qualifications.

They can: 

  • aid you in the process of making difficult decisions, exploring any blocks and helping you to clarify your goals
  • help you identify, plan, prepare and subsequently follow through and take action.

Your work with a Coach will be collaborative, solutioned-focussed, goal-orientated and task-based with regular reviews and evaluations to help keep you on track.

Coaches offer up to four sessions at any one time, following an initial consultation. Each session lasts up to 50 minutes and is followed by an email summary.

Our Student Sexual Violence Advocates (SSVA) are trained specialists who offer practical support and advocacy around reporting processes. This includes reporting sexual misconduct to ARU or reporting to the police.

SSVAs can offer informed choices appointments, where you can discuss the various reporting options.

SSVAs support any student who has been subjected to any form of sexual violence, regardless of age, gender, sexuality, background; and when or where the sexual violence took place.