About our Wellbeing and Counselling services

We are here to support you, to help you make the most of your time at LSE

If you’re finding things a bit tough and would like to speak to someone, we invite you to book a Wellbeing Appointment. Our Wellbeing Advisers will listen to you and can work with you explore what would be most useful to you. If you are interested in short-term counselling, you should attend a Wellbeing Appointment first, to ensure this is the best option for you. Wellbeing Advisers can arrange a direct referral to our counselling service.

Appointments are available online (Zoom), or in person.

Please note if you are in the USA or Canada at the time of your counselling appointment, we will not be able to proceed with counselling and will ask you to reschedule to a date when you are in the UK. In the meantime, you may wish to access support via Spectrum Life using this link: 24/7 support. Additional resources and guidance can be found here: Student Wellbeing Service. If you require urgent support, please follow this link: I'm feeling suicidal or need emergency help

You can find more information about what to expect from a wellbeing or counselling appointment below.

Student Wellbeing Service: Helping you to reach your potential and enjoy your time at LSE. Two people sitting and talking.

During your Wellbeing appointment we will ask you a few questions about how you are feeling and any issues you are experiencing. We will discuss what would be most useful to you, including: self-care strategies, psychoeducational groups and workshops, a referral to counselling, peer-to-peer support, online resources and signposting to other LSE and external services.

Molly New - Wellbeing Adviser

Ellie McGrath - Wellbeing Adviser

Ann-Marie Majekodunmi- Wellbeing Adviser

Tyrone D'Souza - Wellbeing Adviser

Emma Nabavian - Wellbeing Adviser

Louise Harcourt - Head of Wellbeing Team

Contact: student.wellbeing@lse.ac.uk

All counsellors are trained and accredited with an appropriate professional body.

To contact the Counselling Service or a counsellor, please email: student.wellbeing@lse.ac.uk

Counsellors

Ali Graves (she/her) (UKCP, HCPC Accred)

Working Days: Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays

Julie McNair (she/her) (BPC Reg)

Working Days: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays

Melanie Fox (she/her) (UKCP Reg)

Working Days: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays

Reem Hagona (she/her) (UKCP Reg)

Working Days: Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays

Sally Madley (she/her) (MBACP - Accred)

Working Days: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays

Samia Reza-Premjee (she/her) (MBACP - Accred)

Working Days: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays

Sarah Jones (she/her) (FPC, BPC Reg)

Working Days: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays

Susie Ward (she/her) (MBACP - Accred)

Working Days: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays

Tricia McNamee (she/her) (MBACP - Accred)

Working Days: Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays

Head of Counselling Service

Rafiya Hanid (she/her; they/them) MBACP Accred

Deputy Head of Counselling Service

Max Eames (he/him) (CPsychol, MBACP - Snr Accred)

In an initial counselling appointment, you will have the opportunity to speak confidentially with a counsellor about any emotional or psychological concerns that you would like support with.

The counsellor will explore your concerns with you and together you will decide whether it would be helpful to arrange some follow-up counselling sessions. The counsellor may also be able to suggest other relevant sources of support within LSE or in the wider community.

This will be agreed between you and your counsellor. For some students, one or two appointments will be sufficient, while others may need more (we offer up to six sessions).

Appointments may be two or more weeks apart, but if you feel you need more frequent sessions you can discuss this with your counsellor.

If you end your counselling and you return to us at a later date please contact our admin team on student.counselling@lse.ac.uk and we can advise you on how to re-access the service.

Your route back into counselling with depend on the length of time since you last saw one of our counsellors. You can also request to see the same counsellor again.

Counselling (also known as therapy) provides an opportunity to talk with a trained professional about anything in your life which is impacting your psychological wellbeing and daily life. Counselling provides a safe and confidential space where you can talk openly without being judged. Counsellors don’t provide advice or solutions, but work with you to reflect on whatever you are finding difficult and support you to identify healthier strategies to manage.

Common issues students bring to counselling include: stress, anxiety, low mood, perfectionism, identity, relationships, sexuality, self-image, and self-esteem. Please note that in some cases, short-term counselling may not be appropriate, in which case we will help you think about alternatives.

We aim to support as many students as possible via counselling, but please bear in mind that short-term counselling may not be helpful for those who need longer-term and/or more specialised therapy:

• Complex and ongoing mental health difficulties may be best supported by the NHS and/or LSE’s team of Mental Health Advisers

• Medical issues may need to be prioritised with referral to medical services

If you are approaching the end of your course, it may not be possible for you access the counselling service.

We will signpost alternatives where short-term counselling within LSE is not suitable.

Our staff will not discuss anything about you outside of the Student Wellbeing Service without your explicit agreement, except in exceptional circumstances (for example, we would have a duty to inform your GP if we were concerned that there was a serious risk of harm to yourself or others).

For detailed information on confidentiality and data protection procedures, please refer to the Student Wellbeing Service confidentiality policy.