Student Counselling Service
Annual Report 2014–2015 Introduction
2
The national context is one of great concern about young people’s mental health and suicide risk. There is increased demand for services
and expectations about what should be available. There are large numbers of students presenting with anxiety which is impacting on their
ability to study and succeed at college. Academic staff are concerned about the range of student difficulties they are called on to deal with.
There has been a noticeable increase in staff attendance at training provided by the counselling service. At the same time there has been no
increase in counsellors since 2006 and a further decrease in administrative staffing levels is anticipated.
All the staff of the Counselling service have continued to show tremendous commitment and willingness to offer students a high
quality and professional service which is detailed in the remainder of this report.
10 Years of Student Counselling at NUIG
2006 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15
1200
900
600
300
The Counselling Service at NUIG has always stressed the importance of keeping reliable
metrics to demonstrate transparency and accountability but also to highlight trends in
demand for counselling. We have taken the opportunity of preparing the Annual Report
for 2014 to 2015 to highlight what has happened over the last ten years. In that time there
has been a significant increase in numbers of students attending NUIG.
Year Ending
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
No. Students
14469 14634 14776 15422 16251 16479 16519 16730 16483 17542
This has been accompanied by a much increased number accessing counselling.
Demand: Individual Students Seen
Year Ending
No. Clients
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
No. Sessions
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
511
566
655
710
788
878
979
854 1143 1186
2355 3120 3983 4269 4979 6224 6822 5980 6408 5926
It is clear that there is a steady upward trend apart from a slight dip in 2012
to 2013, which may reflect difficulties associated with a change in systems of
recording, rather than indicative of a changing trend in demand.
Year Ending
Avg No. Sessions
Capacity: Total Sessions Delivered
8.0
7.0
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
Output: Sessions delivered per Client
500
400
300
200
100
Output: Sessions delivered per Client
2006 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
4.6
5.5
6.1
6
6.3
7.1
7
7
5.6
5
Here the picture changes in that we are starting to see a decrease in the
number of sessions given to clients. It refers to the average number of sessions
only. The reality is that the distribution of sessions is more like a bell shaped
curve with some students coming for one session only and others attending
more than the standard six sessions. It is clear that from 2011 onwards, the
trend has been for fewer sessions. There are different ways of interpreting this
data but the underlying situation is there is less capacity available to meet
student need. The number of counselling sessions available per 1000 students
has decreased since 2012.
Year Ending
Sessions per
1000 Students
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
162.8 213.2 269.6 276.8 306.4 377.7 413.0 357.4 388.8 337.8
What is becoming evident is that the number of students is increasing faster than the
capacity of the service to offer provision. From 2012 the trend has been downwards.
The service has not had an increase in counselling capacity since 2006/7.
The capacity has been boosted by offering unpaid placements to graduates
of counselling programmes. In recognition of this reality some additional
administration was made available in 2011 which has been partially removed and
it is anticipated will be completely removed in the near future. It is not clear how
sustainable that will prove to be in the longer term, as services in the community
are now starting to compete to obtain the services of counselling interns.
The Work of the Counselling Service
Who are our clients?
1,186 clients attended the Counselling
Service in 2014/2015 of which 42% were
male and 58% female.
There was an increase of 2% in the
ratio of male to female clients which
was a very welcome development. The ratio
3
attending counselling is now very close to
the male/female ratio registered in NUIG,
(43% male and 57% female).
For some years the Student
Counselling Service has made conscious
efforts in our service promotion to use
Average age: 23 years
Age ranges:
language and concepts that would make
counselling help more acceptable to
males. This is particularly important
since the highest documented at
risk group in our society are males
between the ages of 20-24.
Primary Issue indicated by Client:
36% Anxiety
21% Depression
9% Relationships
8% Academic
5% Self and Identity
2% Procrastination
19% Other Categories
Although clients selected the
issue that they deemed of greatest
significance to them prior to talking
with a counsellor, during the drop
20% < 20
68% 20-29
8% 30-39
3% 40-49
1% >50
The majority of clients were
in the age range 20-29
in process, the counsellor also identified
other problems co-existing with the client’s
presenting issue.
It is interesting to note that clinical
assessment picked up many other
significant issues, among them a much
higher rate of serious difficulties with
academic work than initially disclosed
although almost all client issues had
some negative effect on academic
performance.
Counsellor Assessment of Client Issues:
72% of clients exhibited anxiety symptoms
55% had symptoms of depression
30% had academic difficulties
30% were experiencing Interpersonal relationship problems
27% had self-esteem issues
12% were suffering a bereavement.
20%
(Counsellors can identify more than one issue so total is in excess of 100%)
Colleges attended by Clients
Level of Study:
What is significant is
that 50% of students
attending counselling
are from the Arts faculty
while 34.15% of the
whole student body is
registered with Arts.
34.15% 50%
College of
Arts
40%
81%
17%
1%
1%
< 1%
< 1%
Undergraduates
Postgraduates
Access Students
Undergraduate repeat
Students on year out
Graduate students
15.65% 13%
17.36% 13%
14.05% 12%
Total Attending NUI/Total Counselling Clients
9.29%
College of
Business, Public
Policy & Law
College of
Engineering
and Informatics
College of
Science
College of
Medicine,
Nursing and
Health Science
9%
60%
The clinical reports in this
document were generated on
Core Net, a standardised and
statistically reliable clinical
evaluation tool, which the
Student Counselling Service
has been using since 2010,
to monitor client risk and
provide objective information
about reliable clinical change
and improvement.
This year the Counselling
Service upgraded
to a paperless client
documentation system;
all client forms, notes,
letters, and liaison are now
documented electronically on
the Core Net System
The Work of the Counselling Service
4
Who Recommended Counselling to Our Clients?
Outcome of Drop- In Assessment:
63%
11%
7%
7%
5%
5%
1%
< 1%
< 1%
87%
12%
< 1%
< 1%
Self
Friend
Family member
Member of Academic Staff
Student Health Unit
Outside GP or Psychiatrist
Outside Counsellor
Disability
Chaplaincy
Therapy Type
82% Humanistic and Integrative
11% CBT
7% Addiction counselling
Ongoing appointments
Drop in Only
Referred to another Service
Unsuitable for Therapy
Attendance at Counselling Sessions:
In 2014/2015 we offered a total of 5,926 sessions of which:
80% attended
11% DNA
7% Cancellation
Compared to 2013/14 there is a drop in CBT provision from 23% to 11% and a
corresponding increase in humanistic and integrative counselling. This is due to decreased
capacity rather than any other factor.
In addition to attending individual counselling 2.2% attended complementary therapy
Number of sessions attended
Average number of sessions attended: 5
89.6% attended 1-6 sessions
7.1% attended 7-9 sessions
2.9% attended 10-12 sessions
0.4% attended > 12 sessions
There was a reduction this year of 3% in clients
attending more than 6 sessions.
Therapy Endings:
78% planned endings
22% unplanned endings
Average wait for first appointment: 13.7 calendar days
When weekends and Christmas and Easter breaks are excluded,
this figure indicates that the service is within its target of 10
working days. However this is an average. Waiting times continue
to increase at busy times of the year such as before the exams.
Positive Impact of Counselling
Clinical and Reliable Improvement Post Counselling
NUIG Student Counselling uses the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (CORE) measure, pre and post counselling, to track clinical
and reliable change in clients.
This measure covers well-being, problems/symptoms, life functioning and risk to self and others. When benchmarked against a
referential data base for primary care services in the UK, NUIG Student Counselling outcomes, exceed the benchmark by 2%.
Clinical and Reliable Change:
UK National Range:
70%
NUIG Student Counselling: 72%
20%
40%
60%
Effect of Counselling on Student Retention, Academic Performance and the Overall Student Experience
The statistics shown are derived from a standardised measure, CIAO, used by many universities to ascertain Retention, Performance and
College Experience issues. Students are asked to complete this measure at their initial presentation for counselling and again at the final
counselling session.
Of the 1,186 students who attended counselling in 2014-2015, 978 students completed the pre and post measure. This means
that we have a very large and robust data set upon which to report the impact of counselling on academic outcomes
Positive Impact of Counselling
5
Student Counselling and Retention
80.7% of students reported that counselling helped them to stay
at college.
For 51.4% of students counselling was an important or the most
significant factor.
Post Counselling, there was a reduction of 87% in the group
of students who reported that “most of the time” they were
considering leaving college because of their problems.
Student Counselling and Academic Improvement
To what exent are you considering leaving your
course because of your problems?
500
400
300
200
100
90.3% of students reported that counselling helped them do
better at their academic work.
For 56.2% it was an important factor or the most significant factor.
Student Counselling and the Student Experience
94.8% of students said that counselling improved their overall
experience of college.
67% reported that counselling was an important or the most
significant factor.
Student Counselling and Skills for Future
Employment
Not at all Only occasionally Sometimes
95.7% of students said that counselling improved their self esteem.
65.6% of those believed counselling to be an important or the
most significant factor in improving their self-esteem.
Student Counselling and Hope for the Future
96.6% of students reported that counselling had helped them feel
more positive about the future
For 76.6% of those, counselling was an important factor or the most
significant factor in helping them feel more positive about the future.
400
300
200
100
Not at all Only occasionally Sometimes
Addiction Counselling
Often
Most of the time
To what extent would you say your problems are
affecting your study (e.g. attendance/assessment)?
500
400
Pre
Post
300
200
100
Not at all Only occasionally Sometimes
74 students were classified as mild, moderate or severe suicide risk at assessment in 2014/2015
Risk at assessment:
Most of the time
Pre
Post
Decrease in Suicide Risk:
Mild risk (54 students) 73%
Moderate risk (15 students) 20%
Severe risk (5 students) 7%
Often
To what extent would you say your problems are
affecting your study (e.g. attendance/assessment)?
93.9% of students felt that counselling had helped them develop
skills useful in future employment.
65.9% believed that counselling was an important or the most
significant factor in helping them develop those skills.
Student Counselling Impact on Self Esteem
Pre
Post
Post Therapy
36% (27 students) Mild risk
12% (9 students) Moderate risk
0% (0 students) Severe risk
Drug and Alcohol problems frequently emerge, alongside other issues in counselling,
although only approximately 5% of clients identify this as an issue at their initial
contact with the service.
There are 2 specialist addiction counsellors working part-time in the service.
Often
Most of the time
The Counselling Service has protocols in
place to actively monitor the level of risk
posed by this particular group of students.
Students on this list have met a number of
risk criteria including: suicide ideation, evidence
of a suicide plan, a past suicide attempt, mental
health breakdown or crisis, lack of support,
misuse of drugs/alcohol, recent trauma or crisis.
Although some students finished
counselling while still categorised as at risk,
because of leaving Galway, these students were
referred to other appropriate sources of help.
Supporting Students
6
The workshops
received excellent
feedback. Some
comments on
the evaluation
sheet included:
“Found it
extremely positive.”
“The way in which
the workshop was
delivered was fantastic.”
“The facilitator made
everyone feel at ease.”
“The instructions were
clear and precise.”
“Great content,
excellent delivery.”
“Helped to make
sense of thoughts
that were confusing.”
“Exceeded my
expectations.”
Workshops & Groups
This year the Student Counselling Service
organised 3 workshops in the first
Semester, (October and November) on
Procrastination, Stress Reduction, and
Perfectionism.
Although the promotion,
administration and evaluation of the
workshops required intensive resourcing
on the part of our administrative staff, it
proved a worthwhile investment as
150 students attended in total and the
workshops received excellent feedback.
Some comments on the evaluation sheet
included:
“Found it extremely positive.”
“The way in which the workshop was
delivered was fantastic.”
“The facilitator made everyone feel at ease.”
“The instructions were clear and precise.”
“Great content, excellent delivery.”
“Helped to make sense of thoughts that
were confusing.”
“Exceeded my expectations.”
Unfortunately, because of reduction in our
administrative staff at the end of semester
1, it was not possible to offer a workshop
programme in the second semester.
PhD Support Group
The aim of the group was to provide a
confidential space to reflect on any aspect
of students’ experience of completing a
PhD. The group comprised of 8 students
who met weekly for 12 sessions of 90
minutes. It had an open discussion
structure and was facilitated by a counsellor
from the Student Counselling Service.
Group members reported benefitting
from sharing their experience and from
supporting each other at all levels from
the personal to the practical.
Both of these groups were new
developments within the Counselling
Service but, as with the workshop
programme, it was, unfortunately,
not possible to offer these supports
in the second semester because of the
administrative resources required to
organise them.
Groups
Bespoke Workshop
Delivered to students from MA in
Conference Interpreting as it was felt
that this was a challenging role which
often provoked anxiety about public
performance. The content focused
on Stress Management and Time
Management.
In the first semester 2 groups were
facilitated: Mood Boost and a Support
Group for PhD Students.
Mood Boost
Mood Boost is a structured CBT based
group for the management of depression
which ran for 4 weeks and had an
enrolment of 15 students. The feedback
was excellent although the numbers
attending varied from week to week.
Some of the comments from students
attending Mood Boost:
“I find myself more able to cope, more
positive and a lot stronger.”
“I have found myself more open to talking
about things that are bothering me.”
“Greatly appreciate all the help and
massive benefit you have given me, it
was an amazing experience.”
Mindfulness Group
A mindfulness group, which was facilitated
by the complementary therapist, ran once
a week at lunchtime during both semesters
and was well received.
Exam Preparation Workshop
In the lead up to exam time there are
usually large numbers of students
seeking appointments. We were
concerned that every student might not
be offered an individual appointment
prior to exams so we provided a group
workshop on the topic of “Stress
Management and Exam Preparation”.
The participants were a little ambivalent
in that they had come seeking individual
counselling but did acknowledge that it
had been worth attending.
Supporting Students
Orientation
The Student Counselling Service were invited
by some departments and schools, (HEAR,
Mature Students, International Students, MA
in Economics) to make presentations as part
of the Orientation programme, to inform
students about the range of activities provided
by the Counselling Service and encourage
any student experiencing difficulties in their
personal or college life to avail of the support
provided by the service.
Shorter Presentations were made to
Postgraduate Students in Business, Mature
Students & Students attending college
through the HEAR (Higher Education
Access Route) as part of the orientation
programme.
In December a larger more interactive
session was delivered to the Access Course
on how to access support in College
& explaining the role of the Student
Counselling Service.
7
Working with the
Students Union
Two of our workshop facilitators were
employed by the Students Union to deliver
workshops to students who had not done
well academically in the Christmas exams
with the title of “Prepare yourself for
Exam Success” which were well attended
and positively rated by participants.
Participate Programme
As part of the first year orientation the
Counselling Service ran two workshops on
the topic of “Taking charge of your life”
& “How to start well in college”. This
was part of a life skills programme offered
by Student Services. This was a new venture
and will require additional organisation
and promotion as there were competing
activities timetabled, which reduced the
numbers attending, although those who
attended rated the content and delivery of
the workshops as excellent.
Participate is an online programme, offering
one-to-one support, for shyness, social anxiety
and student participation. We estimate 10%
of students or more face significant problems
in this way, with a wider group having some
problems with public speaking or performance
situations. These difficulties impact on students’
academic retention and progression, and
employability. Social anxiety can also lead to
depression and alcohol/drug misuse.
The results to date are very encouraging.
Average social anxiety scores dropped from
24.5 to 14 for students who completed half
or more of the programme, and for those
who finished the full programme, their social
anxiety scores were more than halved. 60%
of students who signed up to the programme
completed at least half of the programme,
which amounted to 47 students in NUIG
and 174 students across 3 participating
higher-education institutions.
The research continues this coming
year with a qualitative study and a larger
randomised control trial, with TCD also
due to be involved in the programme.
Social Work
Video Project
Orientation Life Skills
A two hour session as part of the orientation
for students in the Master’s in Social Work
programme was delivered. Information was
presented about the counselling service and
the profile of clients. There was a practical
exercise which was art based with the aim
of helping students to begin to reflect on
themselves and their lives as they embarked
on the 2 year course. The feedback from the
students was very positive.
The Counselling Service made a successful
application to the Special Projects Fund
to make 4 short professionally produced
videos on topics such as “Overcoming
Procrasination”, “Perfectionism”,
“Managing Mood” and “Accessing Help”
These are due to be launched at the start of
the term and will be widely available through
Blackboard and through various websites.
The emphasis is on students sharing their
experiences of the coping mechanisms they
gained in order to deal with difficulties.
PhD Support Group
The aim of the group
was to provide a
confidential space to
reflect on any aspect
of students’ experience
of completing a PhD.
The group comprised
of 8 students who
met weekly for 12
sessions of 90 minutes.
It had an open
discussion structure
and was facilitated
by a counsellor
from the Student
Counselling Service.
Group members
reported benefitting
from sharing their
experience and from
supporting each
other at all levels
from the personal
to the practical.
8
“Both groups were very
appreciative of the service’s
efforts to meet students
and staff and to link
them in with the range
of supports available on
campus and elsewhere.”
“Great course; valuable
insight and useful to have a
full day (too often courses
are reduced and speeded
up due to time constraints),
as time allowed full
development of ideas.”
“The second event involved
working with CELT
and screening a training
film made by colleagues
in UCC on how an
academic persuaded a
suicidal student to seek
help who was initially
reluctant to do so.”
Supporting Staff
There are a number of ways the Counselling Service seeks to support staff. The first
way is to be available for phone or in person discussions with staff if they are facing a
dilemma about how to support or refer individual students for additional help.
The second is to make presentations to groups of staff from particular
departments, e.g. the Dept. of Medicine invited a counsellor to present at a
training day for tutors and the Law faculty requested training in relation to
preparing for consultation day when students are invited to meet staff to receive
feedback on their exam results.
An outreach training was also provided for all staff in the Burren college of
Art on managing student difficulties in that specific setting.
The training was delivered to administrative and staff and tutors in the first
instance followed by a more in depth training for tutoring staff.
The third way is to offer training on effective responses to Students in
Distress. In the autumn term we offered three different experiences. The first
one was titled “Effective Responses to Students in Distress” attended
by 20 staff. This contained both a presentation and some opportunities
for experiential learning through the use of case scenarios. The second
event involved working with CELT and screening a training film made by
colleagues in UCC on how an academic persuaded a suicidal student to seek
help who was initially reluctant to do so. The third experience was a whole day
event with an emphasis on skill development.
Selected quotes from the feedback forms completed by staff:
“Made me reflect on the way I approach difficult situations with students in
distress.”
“Very definite path for dealing with an extremely distressed student programm.”
“Raised questions for me about need for guidelines within discipline ref.
confidentiality and record keeping.”
“Very positive and enlightening experience.”
“Enjoyed session; It is helpful to hear comments and viewpoints from other staff
members, particularly in varying roles – security, academic, admin.”
“It would be great to have an NUIG management policy for extreme cases (and not
having to pass students!)”
“It was very enlightening and nice to put ourselves into the students’ shoes again!”
“Suggest programme needs to be mandatory for all staff.”
“Great course; valuable insight and useful to have a full day (too often courses
are reduced and speeded up due to time constraints), as time allowed full
development of ideas.”
“Perhaps in addition to the wonderful handouts, another for staff in how to manage
themselves emotionally in the aftermath of assisting a difficult situation.”
“Useful to see and hear the experiences of others in terms of students in distress.”
“Red flag of students with mental health issues as they go through difficult modules
– in order to assist them.”
“Extremely useful; expanded my coping window and sense of staff support.”
“Thank you very much.”
“A proactive opportunity to learn about an area that I feel I’m lacking in, and the
level of interaction between facilitators and the group was excellent.”
“Gives me plenty to think about for when I return to the department!”
Supporting Staff
Counselling Interns’ Supervision, Training and Development:
For the past number of years our counselling staff has been augmented by a number of
graduates from reputable training courses who are working their pre-accreditation hours.
These counselling interns are selected and supervised by the service and provide
counselling to clients of the service who have lower levels of symptom severity.
They are a valuable asset to the service and enable many more students to be
counselled than would otherwise be the case.
In January of last year the Student Counselling Service provided a day long training
to counselling interns on “Counselling Student in the aftermath of Sexual Assault
and Rape”. This was delivered by a member of the counselling staff.
Counselling Interns were also sponsored by the service to attend the IAUCC
Conference, which provided one and a half days training on Dialectical Behaviour
Therapy.
Review of Policy and Procedures Document
The Policy and Procedures document was comprehensively reviewed and amended to
reflect updated practice in the service. It will be reviewed annually to ensure that it will
remain up to date.
Website
Work was done on the website so that the material was more accessible to the
user. Many of the pages were edited to make them more succinct and user friendly.
One of the team attended the T4 training and will be continuing to work with the
administrator to further develop the website.
A new Facebook profile is being developed.
Core Net
This year the NUIG Counselling Service has moved to paper free documentation of
all clinical work and this has become possible by an upgrading of the data system Core
Net, a secure system for documenting student Registration and Assessment,
including Risk Assessment, clinical notes, standard letters and forms, as well as reports
on all aspects of the client interactions with the service which form the basis of the
statistics presented in this annual report.
Data quality inputted by the service is high, as assessed by the Core Net system
but we are continually monitoring and improving the use of all aspects of the system.
Counsellors and the Health & Wellbeing Initiative
In January 2015 one of our counsellors, Éamonn Ó Dochartaigh, was seconded to work
two days a week, as a Health and Wellbeing Co-ordinator, with John Hannon, Director
of Student Services. Under this initiative, counsellors and colleagues in Student Services,
in partnership with the Students’ Union, academic and administrative staff, and external
agencies, such as the HSE, will act to review and enhance the university as a healthpromoting community. Both Éamonn and the Head of Counselling, Bea Gavin, are
members of the Health and Wellbeing Advisory Group that will oversee this process.
Student counsellors will be involved in several strands of this project. One particular focus
will be to we streamline and develop how we collaborate with the Student Health Unit and
other services. We will also enhance the programmes that we offer to students to empower
them to be more resilient and to offer peer support and leadership.
9
“A proactive
opportunity to learn
about an area that
I feel I’m lacking
in, and the level of
interaction between
facilitators and the
group was excellent.”
“Perhaps in addition
to the wonderful
handouts, another
for staff in how to
manage themselves
emotionally in the
aftermath of assisting
a difficult situation.”
Counselling interns are
selected and supervised
by the service and
provide counselling to
clients of the service
who have lower levels
of symptom severity.
Inter Service Training and Professional Networking
Bea Gavin
Bea Gavin
Bea Gavin
Bea Gavin
Bea Gavin
Bea Gavin
Bea Gavin
Oct-14
Mar-15
May-15
2014/15
2014/15
2014/15
Jun-15
An Attachment and Mentalization based approach to Persistent Somatic Complaints
Fitness to Study Seminar
DCU Summer School on Qualitative Research
Ongoing D.Psych at DCU (Professional Doctorate in Psychotherapy)
Three meetings a year IHUC’s (Irish Heads of Student Counselling)
Three meetings a year of HUC’s UK Heads of Student Counselling
IAUCC Annual Conference and AGM 2015 (Professional Body for Student Counsellors) Topic
Dialectical Behavioural Therapy
Bea Gavin
Jun-15
CSSI Conference (Confederation of Student Services Ireland)
Geraldine Connolly
Nov-15 NScience Day Seminar Dublin ( Therapeutic Work with Young People)
Geraldine Connolly
Feb-15
CSSI Day Seminar GMIT (Threats to Student Success)
Geraldine Connolly
Jun-15
IAUCC Annual Conference and AGM 2015
Emer Casey
Nov-14 PMDS Training
Emer Casey
Mar-15 T4 CMS Training for Web
Emer Casey
Nov-14 Seminars on Narrative Practice with a view to improving and extending skills in narrative practice
Emer Casey
Monthly Co-supervised a therapist monthly using reflective practice
Emer Casey
Monthly Live supervision with supervisor in the room
Éamonn O’Dochartaigh At Present PHD in NUIG on evaluating the effectiveness of the Participate programme.
Mary Melia
Nov-14 PMDS Training
Mary Melia
Mar-15 T4 CMS Training for Web
Mary Melia
Mar-15 Disability Workshop Awareness for Staff
Mary Melia
Jun-15
IAUCC Administration Workshop 2015
Eithne O’Connell
Jun-15
IAUCC Administration Workshop 2015
Student Counselling Service – Staff 2014/2015
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Bea Gavin
Geraldine Connolly
Emer Casey
Éamonn Ó Dochartaigh
Mary Melia
Aisling Scott
Eithne O’Connell
Maud (Maureen) Conry
Paula Crowley
Head of Counselling
Core Counsellor (NUIG staff)
Core Counsellor (NUIG staff)
Core Counsellor (NUIG staff)
Administration
Administration ( Jan-Mar2015
Administration (March 2015)
Administration (Evenings)
Administration (Jan-Dec 2014)
Sessional Counsellors
These counsellors work privately outside the University and we
buy in sessions from them.
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Aideen MacInerney
Bernie Conway
Breda Moore
Caroline Corcoran
Deirdre McGregor
Iggy Clarke
James McCormack
James Newton
John Whelan
Martina Coyne
Mick McGann
Peter O’Toole
Sheelagh Garvey
Tara Hynes
Catherine Rourke
Alison McGeown
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Sessional counsellor
Interns
These are qualified counsellors working towards full professional
accreditation. We offer them the benefit of fully supervised
client sessions and in exchange receive the benefits of additional
counselling sessions for the service.
26 Anne Page
Intern
27 Susanna Groth
Intern
28 Catherine Wall
Intern
29 Catriona Keane
Intern
30 Clare McGee
Intern
31 Cristina Galvin
Intern
32 Yvonne Cunningham
Intern
33 Olive O’Grady
Intern
34 Philippa McGuinness
Intern
35 Aisling Battersby
Intern
36 Patti Ann Beirne
Intern
37 Sinead Brody
Intern
38 Mary Kilraine Hannon
Intern
39 Eileen Murphy
Intern
40 Joe Murphy
Intern
41 Bernadette Finn
Intern
42 Elva Glynn
Intern
43 Deirdre McLoughlin
Intern
44 Mike Ward
Intern
45 Derek Grant
Intern
Maire McAndrew
Intern (finished Oct 2014)
Aoife Reilly
Intern (finished Sept 2014)
Edel O’Donnell
Intern (finished Aug 2014)
Pam Carroll
Sessional counsellor (contract
staff) Sept/Oct 14
Posters & Press 2014–15
11
Troubledby
Procrastination?
…I’ll do it tomorrow
Take the test and find out! Test Not like me 1
Score value Somewhat Very like me like me 2
3
…I’ll just check my email first… I often end up rushing to complete tasks
I keep putting things off but then end up in a panic
I waste time on trivial things when I’ve important deadlines to meet
I frequently find myself unprepared at meetings
I take a long time starting important tasks AWORKSHOPFORSTUDENTS
Agreatopportunityto:
 Focusonthepositivesthatcancomefromtheexperienceof
failure
 Learnabout,andavoid,somecommonpitfalls
 Applytheprinciplesof‘takestock,learnandadapt’toyour
experience
 Boostyourconfidenceandreadinessto‘bounceback’
“Failuresarefingerpostsontheroadtoachievement.”‐C.S.Lewis
Test Results: Mostly 1’s: You’ve little or no trouble with procrastination Mostly 2’s: You can be troubled by procrastination Mostly 3’s: Procrastination is definitely troubling you …Maybe I’ll feel like it later… Gaincontrolofyourtimeandlifeinour2hourworkshop!
Both
articles reproduced from article printed in
 DevelopasetofLife-timegoalsthatwillhelpyoustay
motivatedtoachievewhat’simportanttoyou
Galway
Advertiser dated 25th September 2014
 Writeapracticalanduseful‘To-do’list
 LearntofilloutaworkableweeklyTime-managementschedule
 Findmoretimeforfuninyourlife!
Coping with stress? Want a night away from the books to spend time on practical ways of support to cope through stressful times? Time on the night spent looking at how to identify stress. Is it impacting negatively on your quality of life? Improve stress reducing skills, step by step to improve your own college and life balance. Learn how to develop your own individual coping style and practice resource building. Here and Now experiencing…What’s Mindfulness all about? Diaphragmatic breathing demonstration included. End the evening with some guided mindfulness and chill out space. “Finding Optimism on the Blue Days”
Are You Feeling Sad or Depressed?
Has this been going on for some time now?
What to expect from attending the workshop?
 Gain an understanding of Depression
 Practical Skills that are evidence based to manage low mood
and depression ( based on CBT model of treatment) that will
encourage you to think more positively
 Recognising unhealthy thinking and behavioural patterns and
how to change and manage them
 Relaxation Strategies
 Useful materials to take away for future use
Fifty new students a
week use NUI Galway’s
counselling service