Roger Davidson
Mental Health Counsellor
he/him
Student Wellness Services
Roger is one of the best counsellors I've ever had. He's very knowledgeable about the broad spectrum of mental health/neurodiversity challenges. He goes above and beyond to make sure I am heard - one day our session lasted two hours instead of one because he was able to gauge my level of distress and the level of care I required. He also provides letters and notes if he thinks that is helpful - he wrote a letter describing what I was going through for my supervisor/department. Roger is an attentive listener and provides great insights into the situations and challenges we're facing. He also shares perspectives and tools for dealing with them. He explains things in easy-to-understand terms and uses a lot of relatable examples. He's shown to be knowledgeable in several types of therapeutic approaches, and it seems like he always knows what you need at that moment, given your particular challenges.
My experience at Queen's was greatly improved because of him, as he helped me a great deal with personal challenges, alongside academics. It's safe to say he helped me be here today. He knows a lot about complex trauma and is familiar with autism and personality disorders, which is not something you see in counsellors all the time. Every time I go to his office he has a different book on his desk on different topics, which to me, shows that he is always seeking professional development and to expand his knowledge even more. He is very dedicated, and I think Queen's is lucky to have him.
Anonymous Student
The famous psychologist Albert Ellis would say that a perfectly mentally healthy person is someone who is unconditionally accepting of themselves, other people, and the nature of the world. In other words, they have achieved equanimity or, psychological flexibility. And while they might, from time to time, be disappointed in themselves, frustrated by the actions of others, or pained by the nature of reality, they don't tend to get unduly disturbed or distressed about life's inevitable negative experiences. Can human beings attain perfect equanimity? Probably not... but we can certainly make significant progress towards it, and university is a great time to do it!
I work at the central hub for Student Wellness Services and see students from many faculties. As a psychotherapist, I work from an integrative approach. While students come to us struggling with a wide range of problems - with different theories concerning different issues and approaches to alleviating them. What is really important, is that the counsellor provides a psychologically safe space and relationship in which students can truly "make contact" with their neglected inner experience - with their thoughts, their feelings, their perceptions, just exactly as they are - a kind of internal exposure, if you like. Carl Rogers wrote, "The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change." My first goal is therefore to promote self-acceptance; after that, we can figure out what the change part is going to look like!
Something I often preach to students is the important distinction between self-esteem and self-acceptance. Albert Ellis wrote that "Self-esteem is the greatest sickness known to man or woman because it's conditional." What he meant was that when our self-worth is dependent upon external matters - academic achievements, intelligence, attractiveness, popularity, and so on - then we're inevitably going to feel worthless and depressed when we don't maintain those exacting standards. Ellis held the humanistic belief that people have intrinsic, unconditional value REGARDLESS of how many prizes they win, how good they look, how many friends they have, what their GPA is - and so do I. Be kind to yourself!
--- Roger Davidson