Scope of Services

• Treat your concerns confidentially.
• Respect equity, diversity, and inclusivity needs of students.
• Plan for academic accommodation when mental health is affecting how you function as a student.
• Help you stay healthy with a range of wellness and health promotion opportunities.
• Provide individual and/or group therapy to address concerns including low mood, anxiety, adjustment, stress, managing distress and debriefing of traumatic situations, issues related to race, culture, sexuality, and identity.
• Offer occupational therapy to strategically address mental health barriers to academic success.
• Provide limited medical or psychiatric support to respond to emerging mental health treatment needs.
• Triage to find the best pathway of care as well as referral to external services as needed.
• Address impact of traumatic situations.
• Allow time for debriefing, processing and offer accelerated resolution therapy.

• Regular appointments with a psychiatrist.
• Treatment for complex mental health diagnoses as these require specialists, care plans, and supervision.
• Immediate access to a doctor for a mental health diagnosis and/or medication review.
• Access to psychoeducational testing including ADHD assessment & diagnosis.
• Long term, regular or weekly psychotherapy.
• Guaranteed same day service, or frequent daily or weekly service.
• 24/7 crisis response, community outreach / wellness or safety checks.
• Family therapy or personal fitness training.

We will be clear with you when we are unable to provide the services you need and help to identify the appropriate service option. We work closely with partners in the Kingston community to assist students who need specialized mental health services or longer-term support.

• You will be sent forms to sign over email, please ensure they are filled out prior to your appointment. 
• We do not share any of your personal health information with anyone outside of our health care team without your express consent (see patient privacy and confidentiality statement). The only exception is when we are concerned for safety (yours or someone else’s) and in these situations; we only share what is necessary to resolve the safety concern.
• We start each appointment assuming that we will get a lot done in just one session about the issue that motivated you to reach out. Sometimes students only need one appointment to feel better able to manage.
• After our session, we will suggest whether additional supports or activities (e.g., booking another appointment, attending a workshop, or using another campus or community resource) are needed.
• When more than one session is needed, we review our progress after a few sessions to make sure we are heading in the right direction. If other specialist services or longer-term services are needed, we will help refer and connect you.

We have many different therapists at Student Wellness Services.  This includes focused therapists that work with Black-identified, LGBT2SQ+, Indigenous, marginalized/racialized students, and students who have experienced sexual violence. We have embedded therapists are specialized to particular faculties or students in Residence. 

General Booking:

• If you are new to mental health therapy, ask to book an appointment, explain what year and program you are in or if you can, what type of therapist (focused or embedded) you are interested in.  
• If you are already connected to a therapist, ask for them by name. Priority is to maintain your connection with that therapist; however, if they are not available, you will be given the option of seeing someone else

Online Booking: 

• If you are an Indigenous student seeking a therapist from Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre, send an email to 4d.counsellor@queensu.ca asking to book an appointment with the Cultural therapist.
• If you are a student in Commerce, Engineering, School of Medicine, you can book with embedded therapists online.
• If you are a first year student living in Residence, you can book with embedded therapists online.

• Plan ahead in terms of what you want to work on during your session.
• Be willing to explore the role you play in each problematic situation.
• Keep all your scheduled appointments. If you are unable to attend, please cancel your appointment as soon as possible, so it can be used by another student.  A fee may apply if you miss an appointment.
• Be thoughtful between sessions about issues explored and try out new ideas and strategies.
• Be open to other supplementary care options (e.g., physical activity, healthy eating, etc.).
• Provide feedback to your counsellor, including letting them know what you think is working and where you have concerns.  Alternatively, you can complete the feedback survey.

• Share your insights and experiences, as appropriate, with the group.
• Reflect on your thoughts and actions in between group sessions.