The Mental Health Advisory service is a made up of a multidisciplinary professional team (typically Mental Health Nurses, Social Workers, or Occupational Therapists). The Mental Health Service aims to put students at the forefront of their clinical practice, working positively with risk, and empowering students to effectively manage their short or long-term mental health needs to support them to thrive in the university environment.

What we can help with

The Mental Health Service offers a range of interventions to students with complex or severe mental health difficulties. Intervention and support plans are developed collaboratively with each student following assessment, based on the individual’s needs and goals.

We aim to support students to get the best from their university experience, helping to develop confidence and independence in managing your mental health.

Our work with the Disability Service

If you have a mental health condition which is long-term or significantly impacts your daily life, you may be eligible for support from the Disability Service. You may still be eligible for support even if your condition fluctuates or is currently well-managed (e.g. by medication).

How to see a Mental Health Advisor

The best way to access the right support service for you is to come and talk to a Student Support Advisor at the 4 West Roper Centre to discuss your situation, or complete our online form to identify the best information and support for you.

What to expect from a Mental Health appointment

We offer appointments online using Microsoft Teams, by telephone, or in person at the 4 West Roper Centre.

In your first meeting with an advisor, we’ll explore your needs in more detail. We’ll ask about how your mental health is impacting you at the moment, as well as your previous experiences, your current goals, and what’s helped you in the past. From there, we’ll agree a tailored support plan.

Following assessment or intervention with our team we may make a referral for more specialist support from NHS services.

We offer support at all stages of a student’s journey, including pre-entry, returning from suspense, and transitioning to placement or to life after university.

Making the most of your appointments

As a student, we know that you will have different commitments on your time – academic work, paid work, time with your friends, time to relax and enjoy yourself. However, if you’ve decided to take the step to seek support for any difficulties you’re having, it’s really important that you give yourself time to attend your appointments (and if you can, a little reflective space after each appointment can be really useful) and make a commitment to attending each one.

We’ll do our very best to fit our offered appointments to your needs and availability, and can offer in-person, Teams or phone appointments to give you the widest choice possible. Our services are in high demand so we need to make sure we can meet the needs of the University community as best we can.

If you have to cancel an appointment because of illness or a conflicting appointment that you cannot move, we ask that you give us 48 hours notice so that we can reschedule your appointment, and offer the available space to another student who is waiting for support. If you miss an appointment with less than 48 hours notice, we won’t be able to reschedule that appointment and it will count as a “missed” appointment in your allocated sessions (we do make exceptions for illness).

If you cancel or miss two appointments, we will need to close your case, but you can self-refer when you feel the time is right to commit to regular appointments.

If you’re not ready to come to regular appointments, or things are so difficult that you are struggling with this, then please come to the Roper Centre to talk with one of our Student Support Advisors – they can offer same-day support and advice, 9am - 5pm, seven days a week and can be contacted at studentsupportadvisors@bath.ac.uk.

You can also access our courses and workshops, social prescribing programmes, Be Well app or our Be Well-Talk Now 24/7 helpline.

Confidentiality and safeguarding

Our support services are committed to the highest standards of professional practice and we respect the importance of confidentiality in all our dealings with you.

We also take our duty of care responsibilities for you seriously and if, at any time, there are serious concerns for your wellbeing or safety there are robust safeguarding measures in place to support you and keep you safe. See how Student Support deals with your confidential information.

24/7 support

If you are struggling and need advice, support, or just somebody to talk to, professional help is also available 24/7 from our free, confidential support line Be Well- Talk Now. Students can contact a trained adviser by phone from anywhere in the world.

Emergency support

If you need to talk to somebody urgently about your, or a friend's or student's, wellbeing call one of the helplines listed in the urgent or emergency wellbeing support guide.

In cases of overdose and serious injury through self-harm you must seek immediate medical help by calling 999, even if you or the person you are with, do not/does not feel unwell. The effects of an overdose can be delayed by hours (even days) and can be fatal.

External support

There are several charities and organisations that can also provide support:

• The Samaritans who can be contacted on 116 123
  
• SHOUT offer a 24/7 text-based volunteer crisis support line - text 85258
  
• Papyrus Hopeline UK is a volunteer crisis line to support young people at risk of suicide, or who are concerned about someone else’s wellbeing