Counselling services

Counselling Services at Lakehead

Counselling at Student Health and Wellness is a free, short-term, client-centred, non-judgmental service. Licensed/registered, professionally trained counsellors provide one-to-one counselling to students. 

Counselling Staff

All of our counsellors are trained, experienced staff who are aware of the unique issues and/or challenges that may affect post-secondary students. Our counsellors practice from an anti-oppressive, trauma-informed perspective.  To learn more and read counsellor bios see the Meet Our Team page.

Thunder Bay

Counselling is provided by in-house counsellors.

Orillia

Counselling is provided on campus or virtually in partnership with the #Ready2Talk CFS Counselling + Wellbeing Clinics.

CFS Counselling + Wellbeing is an accredited registered charity offering inclusive, affordable, and accessible professional counselling, mental health education, and mental wellness programming. To learn more about CFS Counselling + Wellbeing, visit their website.

What to Expect

Counselling is an active process where you and your counsellor work together to find ways to resolve issues and/or address your concerns. To get the most out of your sessions:

  • Come prepared with issues to discuss with your counsellor; set a specific counselling goal -- often times people find that one session is extremely beneficial in beginning to make changes and work toward goals.  
  • Actively work on counselling goals between sessions.

When there is a need for follow up, counsellors work with their client to determine the best course of action -- this may include recommending that they continue to use same-day appointments as needed (“one-at-a-time” therapy), developing a plan for on-going therapy sessions or referral to specialized services.

Confidentiality

During the first counselling appointment, you will be given information about confidentiality and your counsellor will review this with you. Confidentiality is a legal obligation and priority of Student Health and Wellness. Information is not released outside the Student Wellness team without permission from you. See the policy information. There are however specific circumstances, as identified by law, where a health professional is required to disclose certain information. 

A counsellor will break confidentiality: ​

  • If you are at immediate risk to harm yourself
  • If you intend to harm another person
  • If you or your counsellor has a strong reason to think that another individual may be at risk of harm based on information that you provided in your session
  • If you have a complaint about a regulated health professional (e.g., doctor, nurse, psychologist, chiropractor, massage therapist...) with respect to their inappropriate sexual behaviour towards you, and you provide us with that individual’s name, we are required to report this complaint to their regulatory body
  • If you are involved in a court case and the judge thinks that counselling is relevant to the case, your file might be subpoenaed.
  • If there is a reasonable suspicion that a child (under 16 years of age) is at risk of emotional and/or physical neglect or emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse. We are required by law to report this to the Children’s Aid Society immediately

Let your counsellor know if you require more clarification regarding the confidentiality or privacy of your information.

Referrals and Resources

You can learn more about the variety of campus and community resources and services available to you by meeting with one of our counsellors; they may be able to assist you with the referral process if required. A list of resources is also available on our Resources page.

For more information on how to know when you might need support from a mental health professional and how to talk about your mental health, visit our Stop The Stigma campaign.

Making an Appointment

Orillia

If you are in Crisis, please contact Crisis Response Services at 705-728-5044, call 9-8-8, or go to your nearest Emergency Department.

Request an Appointment

To request an appointment with a counsellor: 

  • Log in to MySuccess
  • Click Submit form - Orillia Student Wellness Requests
  • Fill out the request
  • Click Submit

Your request is private and confidential and only someone from Student Health and Wellness will be accessing these requests. 
All requests are checked Monday - Friday from 8:30am - 4:30pm. 

Please note an appointment is only confirmed if you have spoken to someone directly 

Cancelling an Appointment
If you anticipate the need to miss an appointment, please notify us as soon as possible to allow us to offer this spot to someone else who may need it. Call the Student Health and Wellness Office 705-330-4010 x2116 or let the provider know directly if you are already in contact with them. 

Thunder Bay

If you are in Crisis, please contact Crisis Response Services at 807-346-8282, call 9-8-8, or go to your nearest Emergency Department.

Booking An Appointment

Appointments (in-person or virtual) are available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with virtual appointments available on Monday evenings and Sundays.  Same-day/next-day appointments are posted online each weekday morning.  

New Clients: Before booking your first appointment, you must complete our intake form. Once submitted, you’ll be redirected to the booking page. Please your lakehead email to create your account.

Purple pill shape with white text reading intake form

Existing Patients & New Clients who have already completed the intake form

Purple pill shaped button, text reading book here

Appointments can also be made by visiting our front desk or calling 807-343-8361 during open hours

**Please note that online booking is only monitored during business hours (i.e. if you book after 4.30 pm you will receive your confirmation when we open at 8.45 am the following business day).

Same-Day/Next-Day Appointments
Whether you are experiencing an immediate concern or are new to counselling, we encourage students to make use of our same-day/next-day counselling appointments.  Each day, there are counselling appointments that are designated as “same-day/next-day”, this means you can access counselling when you need it and allows us to operate without a waitlist for services.  Appointments are available on a first-come, first-served basis with the last appointment at 3:30 p.m. or until capacity is met for the day. Same-day/next-day appointments are posted online each weekday morning for that afternoon and the following morning.  Our phone line is open from 9am until 4:15pm. 
Cancelling an Appointment
If you anticipate the need to miss an appointment, please notify us as soon as possible to allow us to offer this spot to someone else who may need it.