The Student Counselor assists students in solving personal problems that may arise during their periods of study. The years at University are often a time of radical changes in individual's lives and stress is a regular feature. Students are also under significant pressure during years of university studies. This increase in pressure can result in temporary emotional disorders relating to the social circumstances of students. Problems that students may have to cope with during their years at university include personal relationship problems, difficulties with their families, friends, teachers and fellow students.
They may also experience divorces and other changes in family relations, various anxiety disorders and depression, abuse of alcohol or drugs , low self-esteem and various psycho-social difficulties. Advice is given and guidance concerning how to work towards solving such problems.
The counseling consists in the application of methods aimed at raising the awareness of the individual of his own worth and his own competence to seek solutions to the problems encountered at each time. A counselor can provide short-term treatment, if the problem is due to social or psychological problems that impede progress in studies. In such treatment an attempt is made to analyze the problem and to alert the student to the solutions that are available to him or her. In cases involving chronic disorders, the Student Counselor offers referral to other experts.
