Short-term Counselling in Higher Education Context,Theory and Practice

As demand for counselling from students across Higher Education (HE) increases year on year, counselling services are continually seeking to explore creative ways of working under the pressure that results from this rise in client numbers. One of the most frequent responses to increased demand is limiting the number of sessions that individual students may have. Until Short-term Counselling in Higher Education, there has been no text which provides a contextual, theoretical and practical input to this evolving way of working.

This book explores constructive ways of providing very short-term counselling within a Higher Education context. Using case-studies, and employing up-to-date statistics from the sector, the book gives readers a clear understanding of the nature of the professional challenges, and offers ways of addressing these, including managing waiting lists, developing policies to facilitate timely intervention, and understanding the limitations of what short-term therapy can offer.

Short-term Counselling in Higher Education explores the implications of working in Higher Education counselling services in this very short-term way, and as such it will be an essential resource for counsellors, heads of counselling services and student services managers in Higher Education, helping to find ways of delivering effective short-term interventions within existing counselling services.

Context. Mair, The Rise and Rise of Higher Education and Therapeutic Culture. Theory. Coren, Short-Term Therapy: Therapy lite? Jenkins, Counselling in Higher Education Settings: Working with Risk, Confidentiality and 'Duty of Care' Issues. Practice. Dufour, Assessment: Laying the Foundation for Brief Therapeutic Work in HE. McCrea, Measuring Effectiveness in Student Counselling . Cowley, Groves, The Cardiff Model Of Short Term Engagement. Hunt, Lost in Translation? Working Therapeutically with International Students. Meyer, Working With Depression and Anxiety in a Short Term Setting. Anderson, Louden, Mind, Body and Brain: Working with Somatised Distress in University Students. Ames, Counselling Online in HE: Opportunities and Challenges. Tarren, Managing Demand and Surviving the Work.

Dr David Mair is Head of Counselling and Wellbeing at the University of Birmingham, and a BACP Senior Accredited Counsellor/Psychotherapist. He has worked in higher education for over 20 years and has a particular interest in encouraging and supporting diversity and equality as well as exploring how counselling can help to meet the needs of the current generation of emerging adults.