AC Counselling Services virtually welcoming you

Counselling Services at Algonquin College is open to provide you virtual mental-health help during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Services are available by phone or video during the day. Hours are Monday to Thursday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Students can call 613-727-4723 ext. 7200 to book an appointment.

Students seeking an appointment with a counsellor are able to be seen for an initial assessment within a day or two or on the same day if there is a counsellor available.

“Typical initial assessment is usually booked for 60 minutes; followup sessions are 30-60 minutes. For the majority of cases, 30-60 minutes is sufficient for an appointment,” said Patti Hancock, a group counsellor from Student Support Services at Algonquin College.

The counsellor will send forms to patients before the appointment to the students’ Algonquin live e-mail accounts. Students have to make sure to check those forms ahead of time. During the appointment, the counsellor will check all the necessary details and make sure to obtain consent in order to continue the appointment.

You will be able to make an appointment via phone or email.

For phone appointments, the counsellor will call from a phone number that will be blocked at the arranged appointment time. Also, make sure the phone can take calls from numbers which are blocked.

With a video call appointment, the link will be sent to your email with instructions.

Algonquin is also helping students to develop their skills to manage mental health concerns by offering group counselling virtually. The college is connecting students with a variety of approaches to deal with challenges.

Group counselling offers topics such as netflix and chat, dialectical behaviour therapy which helps release stress and ask an expert which has a variety of topics to talk about such things as, healthy relationships, coping with stress, sexuality, COVID-19 and more.

“Virtual services offer a greater reach, especially for students who may be too anxious to walk into an office,” Hancock said.

“We try to make the virtual sessions as comfortable as possible for students.”

“AC counselling offers group counselling virtually and people report that they enjoy connecting with others,” said Hancock.

Hancock says Counselling Services is using Microsoft Teams for group counselling and each session had 15-20 students.

Email welcomecentre@algonquincollege.com to book a virtual appointment.