Information for staff on the Staff Counselling Service

These notes are intended as a guide to help you gain the maximum benefit from your counselling sessions.  If you have any queries about the service please contact the Counselling Service Coordinator.

  • Staff Counselling is provided by the Occupational Health Service (OHS).  It is for staff who are experiencing distress or other difficulties either as a result of work-related problems, such as stress arising from organisational changes at work, or from non-work related problems which are affecting an individual’s ability to work effectively.
  • Individuals may refer themselves to the OHS to request counselling or, with their consent, be referred by their manager.
  • The counsellors, who are independent of the University, are qualified, accredited with their professional organisation, and experienced in time-limited, short-term, solution focused counselling.
  • The counselling operates on a completely confidential basis between the counsellor and the employee.  Counsellors are, however, required to inform the OHS if it is their opinion that an individual represents a serious risk to themselves or to other people.  Departments, managers, Personnel Services and OHS staff are not given information on the content of the counselling sessions.
  • The counselling is for up to six sessions for any one referral.  You will not normally be able to continue privately with the counsellor following your sessions.
  • After you have been seen in the OHS a counsellor who, where possible, most closely meets your requirements and preferences, will be contacted and given your name.  You will then be contacted and given the counsellor’s name and contact number and you are requested to call them within two working days.  You should be aware that many counsellors use answerphones to avoid disruption of their counselling sessions so you should be prepared to leave a message and your contact number; the counsellor will be expecting your call.
  • It is not possible to guarantee that you will be able to specify the day/time of your appointments.
  • If you are unable to keep an appointment please let the counsellor know as soon as possible, at least within 48 hours of the appointment; appointments which are not kept, or which are cancelled at short notice will be forfeited and will count as one of your six sessions.
  • If you change your mind and decide you do not wish to start counselling, or continue counselling once you have started, please let the person who referred you or the Counselling Service Coordinator know immediately.
  • If you experience any problems during your counselling sessions, including any complaints, contact the Counselling Service Coordinator as soon as possible.
  • Please ensure that the contact number/email address you have given remains current.
  • As part of the regular review of services provided by the OHS you may be contacted after your counselling has finished and asked briefly your opinion of the service you have received.

If you have queries at any stage of your counselling, or afterwards, please contact the OHS, on (01865) 2-82676, or at enquiries@uohs.ox.ac.uk.