University Counselling
The University Counselling Service is available if you feel like you would like to talk to someone, in confidence, outside of college or the University. It is free and offers appointments to speak to professionals counsellors.
The Counselling Service is independent from the University, although it is funded by the university and by colleges. It offers a professional, confidential, general counselling service that deals with a wide range of emotional and psychological issues. The Counselling Service provides group therapy as well as one-one sessions. If appropriate, the counsellors will refer people to other organizations.
The Counselling Service can almost always manage to see people for an initial session within a week and there are also places for emergencies. Recently additional hours have been added to reduce the waiting time. There are both male and female counsellors available. An initial appointment will be made which lasts for approximately an hour, after which the student and counsellor decide together whether further counselling would be helpful, and, if so, what form it should take.
The Counselling Service is open during term (weeks 0–9) Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm. For pre-arranged appointments the service remains open Monday-Thursday until 8:00pm. The service is closed for short periods at Christmas and Easter. Call or email to arrange an appointment.
Address: 3 Worcester Street, Oxford, OX1 2BX
Tel: 01865 270300
Email: reception@counserv.ox.ac.uk
Oxford Nightline
Nightline is a confidential listening, information and support service run by students, for students. They don’t claim to be able to solve your problem but they will listen sympathetically without judging. Every night from the beginning of 0th week to the end of 9th week, there will be a male and a female volunteer available from 8pm to 8am. All calls are in complete confidence; you don’t even have to give your name. Although they are not professionals, all volunteers have successfully completed a rigorous course of training. They also have an office where you can drop in and chat:
Address: 16 Wellington Square
Tel: 01865 270 270
Skype: oxfordnightline
Website: https://oxfordnightline.org/
SU Student Advice Service
The Oxford Student Union runs the Student Advice Service, an online database of various topics relevant to Oxford students, as well as email support and drop-ins during term.
You can find information on the above and more on the Oxford Student Union website.
Student Eating Disorder Recovery Groups
There are two eating disorder recovery groups for Oxford students, one run by Oxford branch of the charity Student Minds, and the other is a student-run self-help (SRSH) group called Enough!. Both meet regularly and can be contacted via email.
Student Minds ED Support: oxford@studentminds.org.uk
Enough!: enough@srsh.co.uk
Online Resources
The University has recently launched its Wellbeing Hub to make accessing all online welfare information and resource easier.
You can find more information about everything already listed, as well as podcasts and university-produced resources to help with specific areas of mental health, such as exam stress, insomnia, self-harm etc.
The student self-help section of Oxford Students website has some particularly useful resources – even reading lists!
General Mental Health
Student Minds
Charity focused on student mental health with volunteers working specifically within the University of Oxford. Visit their website for support.
Website: https://www.studentminds.org.uk/findsupport.html
Other Telephone Numbers
Oxford Police: 01865 266000
JR Hospital Casualty Dept: 01865 741166
Samaritans: 01865 722122 / 08457 909090
NHS Direct: 08454647
National Drugs Helpline: 0800 776600