Mental Health Mentoring
D&A mentoring is designed to support you to get the most out of your time at university. Going to university can be a really rewarding and positive experience, but equally, it can be daunting and stressful.
We work with a range of students facing different challenges – from mental health conditions to those on the autistic spectrum – supporting them to overcome barriers around studying or socialising. Our caring and experienced team will work with you to devise appropriate strategies to cope with the demands of university life, facilitating independence and wellbeing.
Some of the key areas of support are focused around:
- Assistance with any pastoral matters which are causing anxiety or stress
- Support with motivation and morale
- Building confidence and self-esteem
- Emotional support with a focus on enabling the development of emotional awareness and wellbeing strategies
- Develop communication and social interaction skills
- Create positive plans and objectives using tailored strategies, such as support with organisation, motivation, time management, staying focused on work, planning and problem solving.
Our mentors
All of our mentors are highly trained mental health professionals and hold a relevant professional qualification in the field of mental health and membership of an appropriate professional body. Support would typically be provided in a quiet, confidential space, either at university or elsewhere if preferred. A session would usually last one to two hours – but that depends on your preference and your allocation of support. You can check with our team to be sure!
“I have just finished my last session with Mary-Claire and I can’t thank her enough for all the help and the hard work she put into it. I had a couple of mentoring sessions before with a different organisation and although the person would have all the theoretical knowledge, Mary-Claire is amazing in bringing the best out of people and in motivating and she is very flexible and adaptable to fit the mood or situation I was in. She made a difference and gave me the very much needed space to express my thoughts and worries and all the practical advice along the way, but what’s really helped is that ‘push forward’ that I needed.”
Non-medical help is too often delivered as a ‘one size fits all’ package which students are expected to fit their needs around. D&A take a very different view. Their training service starts from the premise that each individual has specific and distinctive needs. Their aim is to empower individuals by demonstrating how strategy based support can be effective, accessible and tailored to suit these needs.
Roddy Slorach, Disability Adviser, St George’s University of London
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