Unisa student counsellors are available to help you address career, academic, and personal issues that affect your study success. We offer a free and confidential service to students. Unisa staff can access the Employee Assistance Programme.
You can self-refer to our counselling services, meaning that if you need to discuss aspects that are affecting your studies, you can contact us directly to discuss your needs. Sometimes one discussion is enough, but should you have more complex needs, longer-term counselling can be discussed with the student counsellor. During the initial discussion, the counsellor will work with you to understand your current situation and concerns. Together, you and the counsellor will then decide on the arrangement of further sessions. The counsellor will also discuss with you the self-help materials which you might access to complement the work we do with you. As part of this process, we would also consider whether the online sessions will best suit your needs and how best to access appropriate support
Please be aware that this is not an emergency service. We are unable to provide online counselling if you are feeling actively suicidal, engaging in serious self-harming behaviours or if you have severe or enduring mental health problems. In the event of an emergency arising or if you were experiencing suicidal thoughts, your counsellor would discuss with you the appropriate support that you could access during this period.
If you found yourself in a major crisis and were considering serious self-harm, it would be vital to get immediate help. In the event of an emergency or if you are in a crisis, you may call:
Benefits of Online Counselling
The session does not follow the traditional social interactions which face-to-face interactions would offer. This style of counselling is not recommended for certain cases and thus seeing a counsellor face-to-face is recommended if:
Click here to go to the online booking form and book an online session:
You will receive a confirmation e-mail after making your booking as well as a reminder e-mail one day before your booking. At the time of your appointment, click on the link in the confirmation e-mail you received to join the MS Teams meeting to meet with the counsellor. You will be able to connect to the session with sound and video.
All Unisa students have access to Microsoft Teams and to use this service, you will need to download the app to your smartphone, tablet, or laptop/PC and sign in using your Unisa login details. Alternatively, you can also access Microsoft Teams via a web browser.
After your counselling session, you will be sent an email with a link to an anonymous survey. Completing this survey will help us gain a better understanding of your online counselling experience and will enable us to make service adjustments to better meet student needs.
To make the most of the process, consider your current problems beforehand. Online counselling sessions provide an opportunity to explore your concerns and gain self-awareness, which may involve considering changes you want to make for yourself and in your life. You may also need to access additional support after the online sessions.
We aim to provide a secure and confidential online service and take reasonable steps to protect your privacy.
Online Counselling may not take place without your informed consent. You will provide consent when you complete the online booking form.
Please note that recording the counselling appointment is not permitted when connecting to Microsoft Teams by the counsellor or the student. If a recording is engaged, then either party can ask for the recording to be stopped and if necessary, terminate the counselling appointment accordingly.
During and after the session, the student counsellor will make notes of what was discussed (process notes) and these notes will be securely stored for six years as required by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).
Your sessions’ content will not be communicated to any third party except for the supervision of the counsellor’s work. Your information will remain anonymous.
We would seek to maintain the confidentiality of all communications online, as we do when working face-to-face with people at the service. Both in online and face-to-face counselling relationships confidentiality will only be breached in the following instances:
To protect the confidential nature and the boundaries of the counselling relationship, your counsellor will not accept any invitations to join your social networks, even after the counselling has ended.
There is an increased risk of breach of information if the device is not protected; take precautions to ensure confidentiality on your devices/apps. Privacy in any form of communication over the internet cannot be 100% guaranteed since we have limited control over your actions or the actions of others.
If Microsoft Teams is not working and the session cannot take place, there should be email communication between you and your student counsellor to explain the situation and re-arrange the session or make alternative arrangements.
If you do have serious concerns about online security and feel that you cannot agree to these conditions, then online counselling as offered may not be the best option for you. If this is the case, do contact us at counselling@unisa.ac.za so that we can find a way to discuss alternative options.
Book an appointment for an online counselling session.
Contact us by e-mail to counselling@unisa.ac.za if you do have any further questions or concerns about the online provision and how it works. The contact details for the counselling and career development services at the Unisa regional centres is available here.
Last modified: Mon Aug 07 16:45:03 SAST 2023