FAQ

Counselling is a collaborative process of having a safe and open discussion between a person seeking counselling and a trained counsellor on options and strategies to better deal with issues or circumstances that are affecting a person’s quality of life.

SUTD’s Counsellors are professionally trained to support students seeking counselling to better manage their issue or condition. In the event that the issue or condition may require the services beyond what the Wellbeing Services could provide, the Counsellor would discuss alternative care resources with the student, and/or seek informed consent from the student for the Counsellor to work with an appropriate member of the SUTD community or the student’s caregiver to provide the best possible care.

As SUTD is an institute of higher learning, the Wellbeing Services offers students a high degree of privacy and confidentiality. Any disclosure of restricted and privileged information will be subject to the student’s informed consent or based on legal and ethical grounds that includes situation which presents imminent risk.

Please refer to the Protocol of the Wellbeing Services for more information.

Students who are currently enrolled in an undergraduate and graduate programme at SUTD may seek counselling for any personal issue or challenge.

The first counselling session usually takes about 45 to 60 minutes. After the initial discussion, you and your Counsellor may decide on one of the options:

• No further counselling is required at that particular moment in time
• Further appointments are needed to explore the issues further
• Alternative services are appropriate and your Counsellor may provide specific resources
• The number of sessions may differ from case to case.

If your personal issues or challenges are affecting the quality of your life in areas such as your health, relationship, daily activities or academic performance, it is recommended that you seek professional counselling. Should you have thoughts of self-harm or harming others, it is important that you seek immediate help.

It is important that face-to-face discussion take place between the Counsellor and the student as counselling is a collaborative effort that involves in-depth discussion of the issues, thoughts and feelings as well as exploration of options. In instances where face-to-face counselling session is not possible, the Wellbeing Services may offer alternative option or provide community resources that are currently available.

If you know of a student who is showing signs of distress, you may inform the person that professional counselling service is available at SUTD, and encourage the person to make an appointment with the Wellbeing Services. If you wish to consult the Wellbeing Services about your concerns for a distressed person, it may be necessary for you to disclose to the affected student about your intention and/or obtain the person’s explicit informed consent. This is to safeguard the person’s privacy and confidentiality. 

Please note that the Wellbeing Services may not be obliged to maintain anonymity of the affected individual if there is reasonable assessment of serious at-risk behaviour due to legal and ethical considerations. Please refer to the Protocol of the Wellbeing Services for more information.

It is important to note that the Wellbeing Services is not in the position to compel the student to see a Counsellor, even if the intention is good. Students should agree to be helped and seek counselling on their own accord.

You may email wellbeing@sutd.edu.sg and provide the dates and times that you are available to meet the Counsellor. We do not encourage walk-in as the Counsellors may be engaged in a counselling session.

Counselling is available to SUTD undergraduates and graduates at no charge.

The Wellbeing Services does not accept the booking of an appointment on behalf on another person due to ethical concerns.

The Wellbeing Services does not encourage the practice of a person receiving help from different or multiple professional sources at the same time for reason of continuity of treatment or counselling journey. If you wish to see a different Counsellor, you are encouraged to discuss the matter with your initial Counsellor to provide feedback and mutually explore options so that both parties could address issues and concerns. If no mutual agreement is achieved, the Wellbeing Services may offer alternative care resources.