Student Counselling Service
We are delighted to be the College’s chosen partner for professional counselling and talking-style therapies. Our therapists work with the Student Support Team to arrange and deliver professional counselling for Borders College students. At the direction of the College, we also carry out clinical assessments to help them decide what type of psychological support would be best offered to a student struggling with their mental health.
Meet the college counselling team...
Ross Irvine, MBACP
Team Lead & Counselling Therapist
College can be both amazing and challenging at times. We're here to help work through the challenges that anxiety, low mood, and other related difficulties can present in order to help students make the most of their learning, opportunities, and college life in general.
Lee Armitage, MBACP
Counselling Therapist
Sometimes self-help or light touch interventions just aren’t enough. By specifically tailoring our knowledge of the mind to you and your circumstances, we can together work to more effectively enable you to overcome problematic thoughts, feelings or behaviours.
Richard Patterson, MBACP
Counselling Therapist
Our job is not just to listen but to really hear what you have to say. As person-centred practitioners, you are our utmost priority, and your wellbeing will always be central to everything we do.
What we can help with...
Getting you through your studies
The aim of our work at Borders College is to help students actively engage in college life and be able to complete their studies to the best of their ability. We do this by providing individually tailored therapeutic support for those struggling with anxiety, low mood, and related difficulties.
As counselling therapists, we can help with a range of difficulties by providing not only a safe space to discuss thoughts and feelings, but also an understanding of how the mind works and ways to help better cope and manage.
Common difficulties we help students with include:
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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD)
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Anger management
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Anxiety
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Autism spectrum disorders (ASD)
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Bereavement
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Bullying
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Depression
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Family Issues
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Low self-confidence
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Low self-esteem
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Obsessive behaviours
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Panic Attacks
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Phobias
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Self harm
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Sleep problems
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Stress
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Suicidal thoughts
How to get support...
Borders College Student Support Team
If you're struggling to manage thoughts, feelings, or behaviours that are interfering with college, your first port of call is the dedicated Student Support Team at Borders College. They can offer you advice and guidance to help you stay mentally healthy and provide you with information on how to access the supports and services available including the counselling service provided by us.
Our ethics and regulation
BACP British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy
Internationally recognised, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) is a professional association for members of the counselling professions whose register of members is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). As an organisational member of the BACP, Insight Youth has committed to providing safe, ethical, and professional counselling and psychotherapy services. Additionally, all our therapists have individual membership of the BACP, and as such, have pledged to work in accordance with the Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.
Frequently Asked Questions...
Ross Irvine
Team Lead & Counselling Therapist
What is counselling?
Counselling is a talking style therapy. Therapy provides a safe and confidential space for you to talk to a trained professional about your issues and concerns. Your therapist will help you explore your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours so you can develop a better understanding of yourself and of others. You will then be supported to use this new understanding to work towards restoring and improving your mental health. It may also be used to alleviate any unwanted behaviours that have a psychological origin.
Find out more about counselling here:
What does a clinical assessment involve?
Before deciding whether counselling might be right for you, the college will arrange for you to have a clinical assessment with one of our therapists. The assessment takes roughly 50 minutes and is divided into three parts. During the first part we will check through the details you have provided the college. The second part will involve you answering an expanded version of the CORE questionnaire you completed with the college prior to the assessment. The final part involves you summarising the difficulties you have been experiencing, how you have been managing them up to this point, how this has been affecting your ability to complete your college course, and what you would like to achieve if you were to undertake a course of counselling. Following the assessment, we will make a recommendation to the college of what we feel is the most appropriate support. This may be counselling with one of our therapists, however, it may be decided that another support would be more appropriate at this time. Should this be the case, our reasoning will be explained to you and the college will direct you to an alternative support.
Is it confidential?
Knowing that what you discuss during a counselling session will remain strictly confidential is essential to establishing a safe space to explore the difficulties you may be experiencing. Our therapists are bound by a strict ethical code which outlines and establishes our commitment to ensuring that this confidentiality is maintained. There are some important exceptions to this general rule, however, which will be discussed with you before an assessment or counselling session begins. The main two exceptions are; where you give consent for the confidence to be broken, and if your therapist is concerned about a significant risk of immediate harm to you or someone else. It should be noted, however, that if your therapist believes there is a risk to you or a third party and they feel it appropriate to involve other professionals such as your GP, they will always aim, when possible, to discuss this with you first. One other important point to note is that although Insight Youth is a separate entity, which means the College have no access to notes or files accumulated during a student’s course of counselling, the Student Support Team will get some information after a course of counselling is completed. This includes CORE-OM test scores from the first and last sessions, as well as a brief final report on the generic work covered by the therapist and any advice, onward signposting or relapse prevention provided to the student. If you would like to know more about confidentiality and the student counselling service at Borders College, please do not hesitate to contact the Student Support Team.
Lee Armitage
Counselling Therapist
Will my lecturer let me attend?
In most circumstances, your lecturer will normally let you attend counselling as this has been prescribed by Student Support Services. However, if you find you are not being allowed to leave class to attend an assessment or sessions, let Student Support Services know, so that they can check that any arrangements have been communicated to your lecturer. Remember, it is important to let Student Support Services know if you are having trouble attending your arranged counselling for any reason as missed sessions could lead to your withdrawal from the service.
Richard Patterson
Counselling Therapist
What is the commitment from me?
Counselling is generally considered to be an intensive intervention, that should be considered when other self-help or lighter-touch interventions have either not been successful or are considered not to be appropriate. In practice, this means attending regular sessions every week, usually at the same time and place, and without any significant breaks or disruptions for up to 10 sessions. For this reason, there is a degree of commitment required from you. It is also important that you have enough stability in your life to attend on time, free from the influence of non-prescribed drugs or alcohol, and of your own free will. Further to this, and potentially more fundamentally, there must be within you a desire for change and a level of acceptance that for things to be different some change will be necessary. That doesn’t mean, however, that a degree of apprehension is not normal. Indeed, most people are understandably somewhat reserved and unsure when beginning a course of counselling, particularly if it is their first time. As a therapist, it is my job to help allay any initial fears about the process and establish a safe and trusting space where together we can work collaboratively towards your therapeutic goals.
What if I leave college during counselling?
If you leave the College during your course of counselling or after being referred for counselling by Student Support Services, the College will honour their offer of counselling and you will be able to complete your work with your therapist. One thing to bear in mind, however, is that you will still be required to attend weekly sessions which will usually still be held at the College campus you attended. If you leave the College and are no longer able to maintain the commitment required to continue your counselling, then let your therapist or Student Support Services know as soon as possible. Things change and situations happen, but your therapist will never be upset at you discontinuing your work with them. However, by letting them know as soon as possible, someone else can have the chance of their support at the earliest opportunity.
BACP (British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy) Organisational Member No. 276300
Insight Youth is a division of Cheviot Youth, registered address: Abbotseat Road, Kelso. TD5 7SL. UK - Charity No. SC034865
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