Mental Health and Wellbeing

University life can bring opportunities and positive experiences, but it can also sometimes feel difficult, stressful or overwhelming.

The Mental Health & Wellbeing Team provides specialist mental health and wellbeing support to University of Wolverhampton students.

The service is not only for students experiencing a mental health crisis or those who already have a diagnosed mental health condition. You can access support earlier and preventatively, including when you want to understand yourself better, develop new strategies or strengthen your wellbeing.

A Specialist Team

The Mental Health & Wellbeing Team includes professionally registered practitioners, bringing specialist professional expertise to the assessment and support of students' mental health and emotional wellbeing.

This means that when you register with the service, the team can consider more than the immediate difficulty you are experiencing. They can help you understand your needs, consider risk and safety where necessary, identify appropriate support and work with you to decide what might help next.

We aim to respond to registrations within 48 hours

Following registration, the team aims to make initial contact within 48 hours.

This initial response helps the team understand what is happening for you and determine the most appropriate next step.

It does not mean that every student will receive the same intervention. Mental health support works best when it is matched to the person's individual circumstances and goals.

You Don't Need to Be in Crisis

There is no requirement to wait until your mental health has deteriorated significantly before asking for help.

You might contact the team because you are experiencing:

• anxiety, worry or panic;
• low mood;
• stress or feeling overwhelmed;
• difficulties coping;
• bereavement, grief or loss;
• loneliness or isolation;
• emotional distress;
• difficulties with sleep;
• relationship difficulties;
• reduced confidence or self-esteem;
• difficulty managing emotions;
• a deterioration in an existing mental health condition;
• difficulties following something that has happened to you;
• thoughts of self-harm or suicide;
• difficulties adjusting to University;
• worries that are beginning to affect your studies or everyday life.

But you can also access support because there is something you would simply like to work on or develop.

Support Can Be Preventative Too

Mental health support is not only about treating difficulties after they have become severe.

You may want help to:

• build confidence;
• develop your self-esteem;
• understand anxiety and learn ways of managing it;
• develop emotional resilience;
• understand your responses to stress;
• improve coping strategies;
• develop healthier routines;
• manage transitions or change;
• understand patterns in relationships;
• prepare for situations you know you find difficult;
• maintain your wellbeing during demanding periods of study.

You do not need to describe yourself as mentally ill to benefit from this kind of support.

Sometimes a useful goal is simply:

“I am doing okay, but there is something I would like to become better at managing.”

That is a perfectly valid reason to seek support.

What Happens When I Register?

The service has different parts to its pathway so that students can receive support that is appropriate to their needs.

Access & Assessment

The Access & Assessment part of the team provides the initial route into specialist Mental Health & Wellbeing support.

This is an opportunity to explore:

what is happening → how it is affecting you → what you would like help with → any immediate risks or concerns → what support might be most appropriate.

The purpose is not simply to give you a diagnosis.

The practitioner can consider your circumstances with you and help identify an appropriate next step.

Depending upon your needs, this might include:

• advice and self-directed strategies;
• psychoeducation;
• group-based support;
• a therapeutic intervention;
• further assessment;
• support from another University service;
• support from your GP;
• referral or signposting to an external specialist service;
• urgent or crisis support where required.

Sometimes an assessment itself may be enough to help you identify what you need to do next.

Therapeutic Intervention

Where a therapeutic intervention is appropriate, the Therapeutic Intervention part of the service can provide structured support focused on identified needs and goals.

This is not simply somewhere to “talk about problems”.

Therapeutic work can help you explore difficulties, understand patterns, develop strategies and work towards meaningful change.

At the beginning of support, you and your practitioner can consider:

What would you like to be different as a result of coming here?

Having a goal helps make support purposeful and allows you and your practitioner to recognise progress.

Group Support & Psychoeducation

Not all mental health support needs to take place one-to-one.

The Mental Health & Wellbeing Team also provides group work and psychoeducational support, helping students develop knowledge and practical strategies that can be used in everyday life.

Psychoeducation can help you understand why you may be experiencing something and, importantly, what you can do about it.

Sessions may address areas such as:

• understanding and managing anxiety;
• stress management;
• confidence and self-esteem;
• emotional wellbeing;
• resilience and coping;
• transitions and change;
• maintaining wellbeing;
• other emerging areas of student need.

Psycho-educational Workshops - University of Wolverhampton

Mental Health Support Can Come Into Your Classroom

The team also works proactively with academic colleagues.

Academic teams can request appropriate psychoeducational sessions for delivery within timetabled teaching, allowing whole student groups to benefit from preventative mental health and wellbeing education.

This means students do not necessarily need to individually register with the service to benefit from everything the team offers.

Course-level sessions can also be developed in response to emerging needs and patterns, helping the University respond proactively rather than waiting for individual students to reach crisis.

For academic staff

If you think your student group would benefit from a mental health and wellbeing session as part of timetabled teaching, you can contact the Mental Health & Wellbeing Team to discuss what may be appropriate.

Request a psychoeducational session for your students: MHWenquiries@wlv.ac.uk

The Mental Health & Wellbeing Duty Service

The team also operates a Duty system to help respond to queries, emerging concerns and situations requiring more timely consideration.

The Duty function helps the service determine what response is needed when something cannot appropriately wait for routine support.

This may include situations where:

• a student's mental health has deteriorated;
• new information has raised concern;
• somebody needs advice about an existing Mental Health & Wellbeing case;
• another University team needs specialist mental health advice;
• there has been an escalation in risk;
• a student needs a more timely check-in or assessment.

The Duty system is part of the University's wider approach to making specialist mental health expertise available when concerns emerge.

It is not, however, a 24-hour emergency or crisis service.

If there is an immediate threat to life or somebody requires emergency medical assistance, call 999.

Working With Other University Services

Mental health does not exist separately from the rest of university life.

Sometimes the difficulty you are experiencing may also involve:

• disability or a long-term health condition;
• academic engagement;
• housing;
• money;
• safeguarding;
• relationships;
• bereavement;
• placement;
• professional-course requirements;
• substance use;
• caring responsibilities;
• another significant life event.

Where appropriate, Mental Health & Wellbeing can work alongside other areas of Student Life and the wider University.

This might include:

Accessibility, Disability & Inclusion – where a mental health condition creates longer-term disability-related barriers or reasonable adjustments may be appropriate.

Support to Study – where health or wellbeing is significantly affecting engagement with study and a coordinated support plan may help.

Safeguarding – where there are significant concerns about safety, abuse, exploitation or risk.

Student Money and Housing support – where practical circumstances are contributing to distress.

The aim is to avoid treating you as a collection of separate problems when your circumstances are connected.

Mental Health, Disability and Reasonable Adjustments

Some mental health conditions may meet the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010, particularly where they have a substantial and long-term adverse effect on someone's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

If your mental health is creating ongoing barriers to your education, the Mental Health & Wellbeing Team may recommend that you also speak with Accessibility, Disability & Inclusion about disability-related support and reasonable adjustments.

Receiving mental health support and receiving disability-related academic support are different things, and you may benefit from both.

Accessibility, Disability & Inclusion - University of Wolverhampton

What If I Need Help Urgently?

If you tell us that you are experiencing significant distress or there are concerns about your safety, the team can consider this as part of its assessment and Duty arrangements.

Depending upon what is happening, this might involve helping you access:

• appropriate NHS mental health support;
• your GP;
• urgent mental health assessment;
• safeguarding support;
• emergency healthcare.

The University's Safeguarding Policy also identifies separate out-of-hours support arrangements for students.

The University is not an emergency service.

If you or somebody else is in immediate danger, there is an immediate threat to life, or urgent medical intervention is required:

Call 999.

If you are on campus and need immediate assistance, you can also contact University Security.

WLV Student Life Connect - University of Wolverhampton

What If I Already Receive NHS Mental Health Support?

You can still contact the University.

Tell the practitioner about any support you already receive, such as from:

• your GP;
• a Community Mental Health Team;
• an NHS mental health service;
• a Crisis or Home Treatment Team;
• NHS Talking Therapies;
• a psychiatrist, psychologist or other clinician;
• another specialist service.

University support does not necessarily replace NHS or specialist clinical treatment.

Instead, the team can consider what role University support can appropriately play alongside your existing care.

Supporting You to Stay and Succeed

Mental health support is part of supporting students to participate successfully in university life.

The University's latest published Student Life data shows that 95% of students who registered with the Specialist Mental Health & Wellbeing Team in 2024–25 were retained and progressed in their studies.

That is an important part of the service's purpose.

Asking for help does not mean you have failed at university.

Sometimes accessing the right support at the right time is what enables someone to remain engaged, regain confidence and continue successfully with their studies.

Register for Support

You don't need to work out which part of the Mental Health & Wellbeing service you need before contacting the team.

Register with the service and the team can help determine the most appropriate next step with you.

Find Mental Health and Wellbeing support

WLV Student Life Connect – Support 24/7

Sometimes you may want to talk to somebody outside normal University service hours, or you may prefer to access support independently of the University.

WLV Student Life Connect provides University of Wolverhampton students with access to a free, confidential, independent and impartial counselling, information and advice service, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is provided in collaboration with Optima Health.

The service is available to:

• undergraduate students;
• postgraduate taught students;
• postgraduate research students; and
• apprentice learners.

More Than Mental Health Support

Although WLV Student Life Connect provides counselling and emotional support, its offer is much broader.

You can use the service for advice, guidance or support relating to issues arising at university, home or work, including:

• anxiety and depression;
• emotional wellbeing;
• relationships;
• health concerns;
• childcare;
• benefits and entitlements;
• money and debt;
• practical problems affecting your life;
• legal information and advice from legal specialists.

This is important because sometimes the thing affecting your mental health is practical rather than clinical. Financial pressure, relationship difficulties, childcare, legal concerns or problems at home can all affect your ability to study and feel well. Student Life Connect can help you explore these wider issues too.

Available Whenever You Need It

Student Life Connect is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, through a dedicated telephone line and online support, including an online chat function.

Telephone: 0333 212 0672

You do not have to wait for the University to reopen to speak with somebody.

Access WLV Student Life Connect

WLV Student Life Connect and the University Mental Health & Wellbeing Team

These services complement one another, but they are not the same service.

The University's specialist Mental Health & Wellbeing Team provides assessment and interventions within the University and can work alongside other University services where your mental health is affecting your studies or wider university experience.

WLV Student Life Connect is independent of the University and available 24/7. It can be particularly useful when:

• you want to talk to somebody outside University opening hours;
• you would prefer independent support;
• you want counselling or emotional support;
• you need practical advice alongside emotional support;
• you want support while waiting for another appointment;
• something has happened unexpectedly and you would benefit from talking it through;
• you want support during evenings, weekends or University closure periods.

You can use both services. Accessing WLV Student Life Connect does not prevent you from registering with the University's Mental Health & Wellbeing Team.