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First Year Experience (FYE)
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Final Year Experience Programme (FYEP)Student Counselling
The Department of Student Counselling provides psychosocial support to all registered CPUT students through various services. All our services facilitate healthy student adjustment and integration into student life and enhance and maintain general well-being and mental health.
Vision
We strive to be the heartbeat of student wellness.
Mission
We provide comprehensive psychological, social, and educational services to ensure the holistic well-being, development, and success of our student community.
Values
We strive to create a caring and nurturing environment in which our valued clients are treated with respect and positive regard. We value open communication, honesty, and commitment to our clients. As professional caregivers, we are highly aware of ethical and confidentiality considerations. We embrace diversity and the uniqueness of individuals.
Support and Services
Student counselling can assist you in achieving these goals by offering you the following services:
Individual Counselling
Individual counselling support is provided on campus or online through individual sessions with a professional registered psychologist or social worker. It allows students to talk to a professional about any personal, relationship, or academic challenge/difficulty privately and confidentially.
Some of the many challenges that students seek support for include:
- Feeling stressed, overwhelmed and struggling to cope
- Any situation or matter negatively impacting their academic studies or performance
- Adjusting to campus, residence life or any other challenging life situation
- Personal, emotional, welfare or relationship problems
- Personal crisis or exposure to a traumatic experience
- Domestic violence or other forms of physical, sexual or emotional abuse, such as intimate partner violence, rape, assault
- Experiencing symptoms of depression, dealing with suicidal thoughts and feeling anxious
- Experiencing problems related to substance use or abuse
Career Counselling and Assessments
Students can book a consultation with a counsellor to discuss various career and course-related matters. This process helps students to identify:
- Suitable careers and related courses of study based on information about their personality, values, interests and abilities
- Explore different courses and career options if they are considering a course or career change or want to enrol for further or postgraduate studies.
This service may include a psychometric assessment and is free of charge if you are a registered student. Assessments use questionnaires and tests to help identify your interests, values, personality preferences and abilities so that the counsellor can recommend suitable courses or careers. You need to book an appointment to see a student counsellor to use the service.
Career counselling and career planning relate to the following aspects of the Wellness Wheel:
Academic Support and Career Development
Our academic support services and career development activities are offered through workshops and webinars, throughout students’ studies at CPUT. These are aimed at assisting students in the development of important skills to support their academic performance and integration into their professional career life. Workshop themes offered include:
- Academic enhancement
Topics include balancing personal and academic life, dealing with family expectations and setting boundaries for studying, dealing with distractions and effective time and personal resource management, dealing with stress and procrastination, and maintaining motivation and momentum in your studies. - Career Preparation
Topics include CV writing, job search skills, preparing for an interview, and identifying and displaying your strengths in your CV and during the interview.
To book a counselling session or to find out about our workshops and other resources, Contact us by sending an email to:
Wellness Programmes
The wellness programme offers information, education and guidance on how to live a healthy and balanced life in all areas of your life. Our wellness activities and workshops target the following topics:
- Maintaining your mental health and general wellbeing
- Psychoeducation on mental health challenges (depression, suicide, anxiety, trauma, substance, pregnancy etc.)
- Healthy coping strategies, amongst others relaxation, self-care and mindfulness
- Establishing healthy relationships and managing personal boundaries
- Healthy sexuality and self-expression
You can find out more about wellness activities and programmes at Student Counselling Reception, or watch the Student Affairs and Services News and Events page for announcements on upcoming training workshops.
Peer Helper Services
On campus and in most residences, you will find a group of senior students trained as peer helpers. Peer helpers are supervised by student counsellors and are trained to help you reflect on and resolve personal problems or frustrations you may experience. Peer helpers also know how and when to refer you for professional help should you need further assistance. Peer helpers also actively organise wellness awareness programs on campus and in the student residences. You are welcome to contact us for information on how to become a trained peer helper.
Peer Helper Services relate to the following aspects of the Wellness Wheel:
Academic Support and Self-Help Resources
Academic support
Our academic support service can assist when you
- need information on student rules and institutional policies
- have fears about academic exclusion
- are at risk of drop-out or failure.
Self-help resources
Self-help resources are available at our Resources Venues on the Bellville and Cape Town campuses during regular office hours ( 08:00 – 16:00 on weekdays). Our resources include video, audio and computerised information to help you manage your life and assist you in your personal, emotional, academic and career development.
We provide information on:
- learning and studying skills
- careers and companies
- training institutions and study courses
- CV writing and job hunting skills
- various life, interpersonal and workplace skills.
Academic support and self-help resources relate to the following aspects of the Wellness Wheel:
Services to Learners and Prospective Students
Prospective students
Career assessment and counselling
Student Counselling provides career assessment and –counselling in the form of a workshop or individual counselling to Grade 11 and 12 learners and other prospective students who completed their school education one or two years ago. This career assessment aims to:
- Identify your interests, personality strengths, skills, aptitudes and values.
- Guides how your personal profile relates to the career world.
You will be assisted in considering career and study options that are most suitable for your personal profile and in making your decision about what study course/career you should pursue.
A fee is charged for this comprehensive, professional service, but follow-up sessions with a student counsellor and visits to our Career Resources and –Information Centre are free of charge.
Career information/guidance
Any prospective student is welcome to visit our resource venues on our Bellville and Cape Town campuses during regular office hours (08:00 – 16:00 on weekdays). Our resource venues are well stocked and regularly updated with information on a wide range of academic institutions in South Africa, study courses offered, careers, companies, and bursaries.
Our resource venues are located as follows:
- Bellville Campus: Student Counselling, Ground Floor, Extension to the New Library Building.
- Cape Town Campus: Student Counselling, Room 2.503, 2nd level, Administration Building.
Services to learners and alumni relate to the following aspects of the Wellness Wheel:
Online Resources for Students
Our Student Counselling YouTube channel offers videos on various mental health, wellness, and personal development topics.
Some of the topics that you can access on our channel include:
- Managing the impact of COVID on mental health
- Self-care, wellbeing and mental health
- Depression and suicide
- Stress, anxiety and panic
- Managing exam stress
- Trauma and how to deal with it
- Resources for rape survivors
- Navigating relationships
- Preparing to enter the world of work and graduate preparedness
Click here to access our videos on YouTube
[Flipbooks to be added]
Resource Documents
[Links to be added]
Upcoming Workshops and Events
A range of workshops, support groups, webinars, events and exhibitions are scheduled monthly. These activities are aimed at offering information, education and support to CPUT students on a range of mental health, wellbeing and personal developmental topics. These activities are free of charge and many of these are hosted online.
For more information on these activities or to register, please send an email to
Leadership Training
For enquiries or bookings, please email
Students can access all webinars, workshops and information booklets by Student Counselling porthole on Blackboard or subscribe to our Youtube channel and be automatically notified when we post new videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHYVbGx128VFuvcVTcXObLg
Book a counselling session by emailing:
Services to Staff
Services to staff
Student Counselling’s professional staff assists in advisory, advocacy, and research capacities.
Academic Staff
We provide the following assistance to academic staff:
- With the early identification of students at risk of failure or drop-out and the planning of appropriate interventions to aid their retention and academic success
- Students who present with personal, adjustment, social, welfare, or study-related problems which negatively impact their academic performance and –progress
- With students who present as a psychiatric emergency (e.g. are suicidal, homicidal, or are experiencing a psychotic episode)
- Crisis intervention or trauma debriefing for students who’ve experienced a crisis or have been exposed to a traumatic event
- Life- and career preparedness skills development through the facilitation of training workshops
- Joint research initiatives
- With financially needy students in urgent need of a temporary food supply
- With appeals against academic exclusions (where appropriate and based on merit)
- With the rehabilitation of students referred to us via disciplinary hearings, where appropriate
Staff at Student Residences
The following assistance is provided to staff at student residences
- Residence students who present with personal, social, welfare, or study-related problems which negatively impact their academic performance and –progress
- With appeals against exclusions from residence (where appropriate and based on merit)
- Crisis intervention or trauma debriefing for students who’ve experienced a crisis or have been exposed to a traumatic event
Frequently Asked Questions
What is counselling?
Counselling is a process by which a client (you) meets with a helper (the therapist) to discuss an issue. A basic principle of counselling is that everyone is capable of solving his or her own problems, and the therapist facilitates this process for the client.
Who will be my therapist?
You will be booked for consultation with one of our professional staff, i.e. a registered psychologist, social worker or supervised mental health intern
What about confidentiality?
As our client, you will be treated with respect and all shared information will be considered as confidential. Only professional staff at Student Counselling have access to it when needed.
If you’ve been referred to us by another person (e.g. a lecturer, parent, professional nurse, campus doctor, or residence supervisor) and feedback is expected, the person will be informed that you attended a counselling/therapy session at Student Counselling. However, any additional personal information will only be divulged after discussion with you and when you’ve given consent (permission).
Any information about you that your therapist wishes to communicate to other professionals (not employed at Student Counselling) will only be divulged after discussing it with you as our client and when you’ve given consent (permission).
Any information that may be needed by your therapist from other sources (e.g. your doctor, family, relatives, friends, lectures) will be discussed with you before the relevant source is consulted. No report or other information on you will be released, in verbal or written form, without your consent.
What happens during therapy?
During your initial meeting with your therapist, you will mutually agree upon the objectives (what should be achieved during therapy), the number of sessions and suitable times for follow-up appointments. The therapist might seem to be running the session, but they are actually taking direction from you. You describe your problem, and the therapist asks questions, clarifies, and reflects on what you have said to help you see the situation from different angles. This allows you to decide what you want to do about it. The therapist, therefore, uses their skills to help you help yourself.
The therapist does not give advice, try to persuade you, or impose their beliefs on you. Instead, they listen, empathise with you, and facilitate your decision-making regarding solving your problem.
Does counselling/therapy work?
During the initial meeting, your therapist will decide whether they can help you or whether you should (depending on the nature of your problem/issue) instead be referred to someone else on or off campus. You will then mutually agree upon the referral.
Often, whether or not therapy/counselling works depends on a number of factors, such as how motivated/determined you are to overcome your problem, your level of self-awareness, and how well you relate to your therapist.
According to regular feedback from our clients, more than 95% of our clients are satisfied to most satisfied with the counselling/therapy received.
How do I arrange for counselling/therapy?
The Student Counselling home page provides our contact telephone numbers and the locations of Student Counseling offices on the different campuses.
You need to book an appointment with our secretary at reception. Emergencies or crisis clients are, however, accommodated immediately.
How much will it cost?
Our counselling/therapy service is free for all registered students.
Staff and Contact Information
Contact Us
Email:
District 6 Campus
Room 2.700, 2nd level Administration Building
Tel: +27 21 460 3237
Bellville Campus
Ground level, New Extension to the Library Building
Tel: +27 21 959 6182
Mowbray Campus
Ground level, Barkley Davies Building, Mowbray
Tel: +27 21 680 1574
Wellington Campus
Extension to Administration Building
Tel: +27 21 864 5206