The Student Room Group

UoB mental health support

Wondering what the support offered by UoB for mental health struggles is like for students that have sought those resources? Having only accessed CAMHS in the past, I was wondering whether the support is any better or worse, with a particular emphasis on waiting lists for counselling/therapeutic support.
Reply 1
The uni has its own counselling service with qualified counsellors through the wellbeing service - more info here https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/student/your-wellbeing/mental-health/therapeutic-support.aspx and it sounds like they will see you within a month or so (though not sure how up to date that is). I haven't used this service before but I used a similar one at my old uni and got support quickly but didn't find it super helpful as I was having an active mental health crisis and needed clinical treatment rather than just counselling - however I think this sort of thing is good for short term/mild to moderate issues or if you just want someone to talk to and I know people who have found uni counselling services to be very helpful. They also have a helpline called UBHeard if you need to speak to someone in the moment.

If you need actual clinical therapy from the NHS as far as I know there are two main options for young adults in Birmingham - Birmingham Healthy Minds who provide evidence based treatment (CBT and some other stuff) for some conditions like anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD and I believe you can self-refer to them if you're registered with a Birmingham GP. The waiting list is pretty long from what I hear though. There is also Forward Thinking Birmingham which is the mental health services for people aged up to 25, GPs can refer you to this and I think they tend to deal with more complex situations in young adults. The waiting list is very long here too. There may be other NHS services a GP can refer to but these are the main ones I know about.

In my experience seeking help for mental health as an adult can be more positive, I've generally felt like I have more agency in the treatment I've received as an adult compared to CAMHS when I was a kid. But it is far from perfect (waiting lists are so long) and I think that's more of a national issue than a Birmingham issue. My recommendation if you do have ongoing mental health issues and need NHS help is to register with a GP in your uni area and see them about it ASAP to try and get the ball rolling on support, and see how the uni can help in the meantime while you wait.
Original post by eeeli
The uni has its own counselling service with qualified counsellors through the wellbeing service - more info here https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/student/your-wellbeing/mental-health/therapeutic-support.aspx and it sounds like they will see you within a month or so (though not sure how up to date that is). I haven't used this service before but I used a similar one at my old uni and got support quickly but didn't find it super helpful as I was having an active mental health crisis and needed clinical treatment rather than just counselling - however I think this sort of thing is good for short term/mild to moderate issues or if you just want someone to talk to and I know people who have found uni counselling services to be very helpful. They also have a helpline called UBHeard if you need to speak to someone in the moment.
If you need actual clinical therapy from the NHS as far as I know there are two main options for young adults in Birmingham - Birmingham Healthy Minds who provide evidence based treatment (CBT and some other stuff) for some conditions like anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD and I believe you can self-refer to them if you're registered with a Birmingham GP. The waiting list is pretty long from what I hear though. There is also Forward Thinking Birmingham which is the mental health services for people aged up to 25, GPs can refer you to this and I think they tend to deal with more complex situations in young adults. The waiting list is very long here too. There may be other NHS services a GP can refer to but these are the main ones I know about.
In my experience seeking help for mental health as an adult can be more positive, I've generally felt like I have more agency in the treatment I've received as an adult compared to CAMHS when I was a kid. But it is far from perfect (waiting lists are so long) and I think that's more of a national issue than a Birmingham issue. My recommendation if you do have ongoing mental health issues and need NHS help is to register with a GP in your uni area and see them about it ASAP to try and get the ball rolling on support, and see how the uni can help in the meantime while you wait.


This was really helpful tysm!

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