I work supervising the University of Kent’s counselling and psychotherapy service. The University has a student population of 52,000 a high proportion of whom are overseas students attracted to the post graduate programmes and international reputation of the University. I have worked in the NHS prior to this as operational lead for the Kent Early Intervention in Psychosis Service and was aware that referrals in the city of Canterbury for psychosis are far higher than the rest of Kent due to the presence of 3 universities and a disproportionately high number of young people. The referrals are also influences by the high number of overseas students and students experiencing issues in relation to their gender or sexuality both U.K. educated and from abroad.
A number of students find university a difficult and unsettling experience and we notice a higher level of referral from certain schools in particular pure sciences and the creative courses relation to the film school. Also we observe that their are some cultural issues relating to the type of education the student experienced prior to attending a U.K. university. Some academic cultures those from the Far East and Africa are more taught and less discursive with a more hierarchical structure. The post graduate students are therefore ill prepared for courses where they will receive considerably less input than they are accustomed to in relation to their research and thinking.
Students often find it difficult to ask for support or to admit that they are struggling with their studies and are ashamed to acknowledge that they would benefit from an intervention. Additionally students are often unable to discuss their difficulties with relatives as there is an embarrassment or humiliation in acknowledging that they are experiencing academic issues when parents may have undergone huge financial deprivation in order to fund the course. There are cultural pressures too and some of our Chinese students who are extremely reluctant to access counselling services reportedly struggle disproportionately with suicidal thoughts in relation to failure.
I think the Open Dialogue training has made me more aware of family issues in relation to the students and how it is helpful to work with the family of origin in mind. It has also made me think that while the university counselling team cannot provide an Open Dialogue service they can work with the principles, considering the family of origin and their culture and thinking. It has been a criticism of psychotherapy that it is very focused on the individual as opposed to their place in society and that it is Western European/American in concept with insufficient understanding of cultural implications, religious influences and societal requirements. We are therefore attempting to think in a more culturally aware manner with our students and to explore the family of origin and their impact on the student’s presentation.
The student counselling service which is struggling under an increasingly high level of referral is not the sole source of support. There exists a drop-in service, mentoring support, wellbeing officers and a good link with the University’s medical services and the local NHS mental health services. It does however at the moment feel insufficient as an increased level of distress is palpable within the student population.
Author Bio: Jane Hetherington, Principal Psychotherapist at KMPT and an employee at Early Intervention Services in Kent, has completed Open Dialogue course and will be a part of the new Open Dialogue Course. She is trained as an integrative psychotherapist and has experience working in primary care, substance misuse, and psychosis services. Here, she writes about a few psychotherapeutic theories.
