Individual and couples counselling

Our individual counselling services can be used by registered UM and International College of Manitoba (ICM) students who are working on their degree requirements (i.e., undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in courses, graduate students working on research and writing, cooperative education students in a placement) and students not studying in the spring and summer but who were registered in the preceding winter term and plan to return to studies in the fall:

• Domestic and international students who are currently registered in studies (including cooperative education students in a work placement, graduate students working on their thesis)
• English Language Centre students at the UM 

Students studying at the Bannatyne campus or in the Inner-City Social Work program are directed to contact Student Services at the Bannatyne Campus for counselling support.

We offer four types of individual counselling services:

• ongoing individual counselling
• couples counselling
• an on-line program for depression (RBC MOOD program)
• and single session therapy (SST)

Students must attend an initial intake appointment to request ongoing individual counselling, couples counselling or the RBC MOOD program. Please see below for more information on each of these options.

Initial intake appointments are scheduled up to 1 week in advance starting on Friday afternoons at 2:30 pm. To request an intake appointment, telephone the SCC at 204-474-8592 on that day and at that time. We do not accept in-person requests for intake appointments that afternoon. Intake appointments are in very high demand and, unfortunately, the SCC is unable to provide this service to every requesting student. We therefore suggest you consider using our workshop programming for immediate support if you are unable to schedule an intake appointment. If you opted into the UMSU student care health plan, you are also eligible to use the Empower Me+ mental health support service.

Single Session Therapy (SST) appointments are also scheduled up to 1 week in advance starting on Friday afternoons at 2:30 pm. Please telephone the SCC on that day and at that time if you would like to request SST. Please see below to confirm that SST is an appropriate service for you before seeking this support.

Intake session

Intake counselling appointments are usually up to 1 hour in length and focus on identifying your support needs and priorities. These sessions do not ordinarily include working on your identified support needs – the intake session helps us make a decision about how best to provide help to you (e.g., counselling workshop, counselling group, individual counselling, referral, etc.). Consider requesting an intake appointment if you:

• are unsure of what support you need but you know you would like help
• are interested in ongoing individual counselling (i.e., more than one session) and you want to see what is available to you
• have a problem or concern you feel cannot be addressed in a SST appointment (e.g., trauma, ongoing anxiety, depression addiction concerns)
• you are not currently receiving counselling at the SCC or with another professional

Learn more about Student Counselling Centre individual counselling services from SCC Director David Ness and SCC Counsellor Danna Mcdonald.

Single Session Therapy (SST)

Single Session Therapy (SST) is an extended individual counselling session to address a specific concern you have at this present time. Consider booking a SST appointment if you:

• Are NOT in crisis
• Have a specific problem or concern and are interested in a single meeting with a SST-trained counsellor who will work with you to create an action plan that day
• Are not interested in ongoing counselling services at this time
• Do not have a SCC counsellor right now
• Are able to commit to attending a 75 to 90 minute appointment

Examples of problems addressed in SST include exam anxiety, relationship break-up, stress management, managing a specific relationship problem such as how to tell family about a difficult decision, career decisions such as whether or not to withdraw from a course or program, or sleep difficulties.

Initial intake appointments are in high demand and during busy times there might be a delay in scheduling you an appointment. If there is a delay, you will be offered other supports (e.g., workshops information, community resources).

Learn more about Single Session Therapy from SCC Director David Ness and SCC Counsellor Danna McDonald.

RBC MOOD (Manitoba Online Overcoming Depression) Program

The RBC MOOD Program is an online counselling service for University of Manitoba students who would like help with low to moderate symptoms of depression. The program consists of a series of treatment modules that are self-directed, which means you choose when and how quickly you complete them. 

When you enroll in the RBC MOOD Program, a counsellor from the Student Counselling Centre (SCC) will be assigned as your online counsellor and will provide support and feedback as you work your way through the modules. 

Benefits of the RBC MOOD Program:

• learn about depression, stress and anxiety
• be introduced to many different treatments for depression, stress and anxiety
• develop a variety of skills to manage your mood
• be supported by an online counsellor from the SCC
• learn about and get connected to other relevant supports on and off campus

To learn more about the RBC MOOD Program and to find out if is right for you, please come to either the main office of the SCC at 474 UMSU University Centre and request an  intake counselling appointment or, for students at the Bannatyne campus, connect either in-person (S211 Medical Services Building) or via telephone (204-272-3190) with Student Services at Bannatyne Campus.

Couples counselling

Students interested in couples counselling can contact our office to request an initial intake appointment. Both members of the couple do not need to attend the initial intake appointment, but the person who attends this first meeting must be a University of Manitoba student. If couples counselling is appropriate, the student and their partner will be assigned to a counsellor.