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Counselling and Personal Development Service

October 4th, 2009

It’s for every DCU student and it’s free! Whatever may be on your mind, don’t keep it to yourself - please talk.

Here are some of the most common questions about the Counselling and Personal Development Service answered.

1. What is the Counselling And Personal Development Service?
2. What do I say in Counselling?/What do students talk about in counselling?
3. Why do people choose counselling?
4. Who can use the service?
5. Who are the counsellors?
6. Where is the service located?
7. How do I make an appointment?

1. What is the Counselling And Personal Development Service?

The counselling and personal development service is a professional and confidential service, which is available to all registered DCU students free of charge. The service aims to address personal and social issues that hinder a students’ academic performance in a non judgemental manner. Your counsellor will work with you to develop more effective responses to difficulties, inform decision making, enable problem solving and enhance self awareness.

2. What do students talk about in counselling?

People talk about a wide range of personal growth and development issues such as:
Developing self confidence
Making stress and anxiety work for you
Loss through bereavement/parent separation/ relationship break-up
Sexuality/ sexual identity
Beating the blues/depression
Facing alcohol/drug addictions
Negotiating relationship struggles
Eating issues…. What helps
Overcoming procrastination
Working through suicidal thoughts/ feelings

3. Why do people choose counselling?

There are many reasons why someone may come to counselling. You may be finding it hard to shake off a low mood or motivation or feeling over anxious or depressed. Perhaps relationship difficulties with friends, colleagues or family are in need of some help, or you may be experiencing bullying or have suffered an assault. Some people come for help in breaking out of isolation or harmful patterns of behaviour.

4. Who can use the service?
All students of DCU can avail of the Counselling and personal development service free of charge.

5. Who are the counsellors?
We are experienced psychologists/therapists who specialise in helping students overcome personal issues to better progress through your course of study and develop your psychological strength and well being.
We are: Helena Ahern, Ruan Kennedy, Hadas Levy and Orla Murphy.

6. Where is the service located?
We are based in the Henry Grattan Building, on the ground floor, opposite the Student Advice Centre.

7. How do I make an appointment?
There are three easy ways to make an appointment. You can:
Call into Marie in CG72 (Ground floor of the Henry Grattan),
Phone 01-7005165
Email: [email protected]
For more information you can visit: http://www.dcu.ie/counselling

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Look after yourself, and eachother

October 4th, 2009

Ever feel sad, anxious or bored? Do you find you’re fatigued, or more tired than usual, is everything too much of an effort? Have trouble getting to sleep, or find you oversleep often? Is your thinking slow, your concentration low, are you forgetful or indecisive? Have you lost interest in food, college, or going out? Does your life seem a bit duller than it used to? Do you have low self esteem, or feelings of guilt? Do you suffer from a lot of headaches, chest or other pains that you can’t explain?

There are loads of symptoms of depression, and these are just some of them. Suicidal thoughts are obviously a sign too, but it’s good to be aware of many of the less obvious ones.

We all feel down from time to time, that’s normal. If you have a relationship break up or if a close friend or relative passes away, it is natural to feel sad and sometimes want to withdraw from people for a while.

However, it is when these brief periods turn into extended periods of feeling down that we need to watch out for ourselves and those around us. It is important to be able to recognise the signs of depression so that you can be there for friends or classmates who you think might be feeling low.

However, it is important to realise that many of these symptoms can crop up on their own, or together, but not necessarily mean the person experiencing them is depressed.

If you or someone you know are experiencing some of these symptoms, please talk. Talking is a sign of strength, not of weakness.

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Student Union Launch Please Talk Week

October 4th, 2009

Sometimes you need to say something that can’t be summed up in a Facebook status or Twitter tweet. Whether it’s an issue that has been on your mind for months, or a niggling feeling that you can’t pinpoint, we are reminding you that there are lots of support services available within DCU, and encouraging you to please talk about anything that’s on your mind.

This week you will see a strong presence of PleaseTalk.ie, a website that offers information on support services. They include Niteline, a non-directive free listening service (call 1800 793 793) run by students for students, DCU Counselling and Personal Development, and ourselves on the Students’ Union.

Whether this simply refreshes your memory, or adds a new understanding to mental health, please take time to read the testimonials in our feature and visit our information points in the Hub and canteen.

There are many issues that students may struggle with. We are taking two of these issues, that of sexuality and that of depression, and running smaller campaigns on these in conjunction with PleaseTalk.ie. We hope that by engaging with these topics we can attempt to help students have a fresh perspective, and not to be intimidated by anything they may be going through.

Last year’s Students’ Union team ran a very successful sexuality campaign with the tagline ‘What Defines You?’ Sexuality is of course important to who you are, but it is not a defining factor. This year we propose that whatever way you chose to live your life, be proud of who you are and be honest with yourself.

Irish society has come so far in the last twenty years with regards sexuality. There is no reason to ‘stay in the closet’ anymore, and doing so can serve to damage your integrity and indeed your happiness. Gay, straight, bisexual or transgender, be proud of who you are.

On a separate topic entirely, we have looked at depression and worked closely with Counselling & Personal Development to beg questions on why such a strong stigma still exists regarding this aspect of mental health. Why are we so terrified of depression? What’s wrong with saying you’re feeling low?

It can be so difficult to suffer from depression, and yet adding to the weight is society’s discomfort with it. We therefore urge you to reconsider how you see depression, and consider it a block to being your full self but something that can be treated.

It may be a simple underlying issue, or the process may take longer, but there is ways through this. And with any of these issues, it starts by talking.

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