Mental health advice

Initial Contact

An administrator will email to acknowledge receipt of your online form. They will provide you with a booking link to schedule an appointment. You can see a Mental Health Adviser at your college or online.

Appointments

A Mental Health assessment is 50 minutes. Follow-up appointments are generally 30 minutes, if required. Please let us know as soon as possible if you cannot attend, or if you are running late.  Missed appointments increase the time other students have to wait for an appointment. If you let us know in advance, there may be some flexibility with what we can offer.

Meeting a Mental Health Adviser

Your first appointment is an initial assessment with a Mental Health Adviser. You can tell the Mental Health Adviser about your concerns and what help you are looking for. They will ask you about your concerns, academic status, current situation, history and wellbeing. At the end of your first appointment, the Mental Health Adviser may make some suggestions. They may provide you with some resources to support your mental health. They they may invite you back for a follow-up, if needed.

Mental Health Advisers can support you in managing the impact of your mental health difficulties. They will help you develop skills and strategies to deal with your difficulties. by drawing on a range of evidence-based interventions. Your Mental Health Adviser can also provide advice and signposting to other services. They can help with referrals to statutory mental health services. This can includes NHS Talking Therapies or Community Mental Health Teams.

The Mental Health Advisers at UAL come from a variety of professional backgrounds. This includes mental health nursing, social work, and occupational therapy.

Preparing for your appointment

You do not have to do any specific preparation before your appointment. You may find it helpful to consider the following questions:

• What concern or problem do you want to address?
• What are you hoping to get from your appointment?
• What would you like to talk about with your Mental Health Adviser?
• Do you feel ready and able to talk about your concerns?

Please make sure you are on time for your appointment, so that you can make the most of the time available.

For face-to-face appointments, please arrive 5 before your scheduled appointment. Report to the student services front desk. Your Mental Health Adviser will  meet you at your scheduled appointment time.

We will send the link to  join online appointments in your booking confirmation email. Please log in to Teams using your UAL email address. It is helpful if you can join the session 5 minutes in advance of your scheduled appointment time. Please make sure that you are in a confidential space for the appointment. This will help you to discuss your concerns safely. The appointment may not go ahead if you are not in a confidential space. Please try and have your camera on during your appointment.

Missing an appointment

During term-time, we have a high demand for assessments. We aim to ensure that students’ access to support is fair.  Cancelling an appointment with little notice increases waiting times for you and other students.

If you do miss your appointment, you will get another opportunity to book. We offer a maximum of 2 opportunities to rebook. If we have not heard from you, we will assume you that no longer wish to access the service. You can re-refer at any time.

Privacy and confidentiality

Student Services confidentiality and information sharing policy. (PDF 174KB)