Counselling
International Students
Welcome to the University of Portsmouth Counselling Service's International Students page
Adjusting to a new country, culture and academic system is a major transition which is exciting but can be difficult at times since you are a long way away from the people like your family who would normally support you. Sometimes the difficulties persist, for example:
- Feeling homesick
- Bereavement
- Relationship problems
- Feeling low or not yourself
- Dealing with other people's misunderstandings about your culture or your country
Dealing with these problems can then make you feel unhappy and sometimes you want to talk to someone about what to do.
Counselling offers students the opportunity to talk privately and in complete confidence to someone about any problems which are affecting their wellbeing.
Our service is staffed by experienced counsellors and you will be able to talk to a female or male counsellor. It is free of charge and we welcome all students at the University whether they are home, EU or international students.
Usually, people come to counselling simply because something is bothering them and they want to talk about it.
If you want to talk to a counsellor, the first stage is for you to complete a 'Pre-Counselling Form' which will help us to place you with an appropriate counsellor and which you can download here as a WORD document:
If downloading presents problems you can request the form as an attachment by contacting counselling@port.ac.uk, or you can collect one in person from Nuffield Reception and complete it there in privacy or take it home to complete. Once the completed form is received it will be read only by a counsellor and you will be offered an appointment as soon as one is available at a time which you can manage.
There are a number of self-help books we can recommend which you can look at by clicking on this link: books. You may also find this website very helpful: www.fiveareasonline.com as it gives you immediate access to practical advice on how to tackle common problems such as; low mood, anxiety, panic and stress, as well as how to cope with longer-term physical health problems and how to tackle other problems such as smoking and drinking. You will be able to access online books, together with accompanying worksheets, which have been carefully designed to communicate key points that can help you change things around quickly.”
We would like you to benefit fully from and enjoy your time here, so please don't hesitate to contact us if you feel our support would be useful. You will almost certainly also find it useful to visit the International Office which looks after the welfare of all international students at the university.