Between frantic phone calls, crisis appointments and juggling schedules, receptionists at Student Counselling Services (SCS) start their mornings at full speed and rarely slow down.
Michael, an assistant psychologist, was the first to arrive on Monday, November 18th, at 8:30am, milk in hand for the team’s coffee and tea throughout the week. Soon after, Aga, the front office supervisor, and the Director Trish made their way into the office, engaging in their usual friendly tussle over which radio station would set the tone for the day.
The morning rush kicked off when reception opened at 9am — often the busiest hour of the day. Emergency appointment requests were handled by the receptionist Sheila and the duty counsellor, ensuring every student who approaches the student counselling service in crisis gets support. Meanwhile, Aga navigated cancellations, working to release highly sought after same-day Needs Assessment and Planning (SNAP) sessions.
“By mid-morning both drop-in SNAP appointments have been booked. With more students coming in hoping to book one, the front office is shuffling through schedules relentlessly to try to find a cancellation to offer to the student,” Aga said.
Last Monday, a spot opened up just five minutes away at House 47, thanks to the team’s quick thinking and schedule adjustments.
Compared to last year, when SNAPs could only be booked online with wait times stretching up to two or three weeks, students now have the option to walk in on weekday mornings for same-day support on a first-come, first-served basis.
Tech issues are a common occurrence during these busy mornings. Marianne and Dorothy worked tirelessly to troubleshoot persistent IT problems. The reception area buzzed as an alert came in about a student using SilverCloud, the service’s self-guided digital mental health tool grounded in cognitive-behavioural therapy, prompting the Outreach Team to step in.
“Thankfully, they always manage to outsmart our smart devices,” Aga said.
The team remained high in spirit and worked to create a calming environment, with the team’s resident plant caretakers, counsellors Sinead and Joanna, checking on the greenery in the office around lunchtime.
The underwatering versus overwatering discussion came to a halt as more students arrived. Anne organised a quiet room to calm down a distressed student and accompanied them until the duty counsellor could see them. Anne said the student was given biscuits from the office stash that often helps students.
Soon after, another student came in looking for their Peer Support meeting; reception directed them to Student 2 Student (S2S) in House 47. S2S is a student-run program at Trinity that provides peer support, offering students a welcoming space to chat, seek guidance or ask questions when they’re unsure where to turn.
By this time the office was ready for the second round of coffee, accompanied by concise, friendly chats at the queue behind the two coffee machines, which were donated to the office by colleagues.
The afternoon brought another wave of activity as students attending two group sessions filled the reception area. Some students chatted with peers while others opted for quiet activities like the colouring books scattered throughout the waiting area.
SCS offers a number of weekly drop-in groups, including the Ethnic Minority Support Group on Mondays, the Addiction Recovery and Wellbeing Group on Tuesdays, the Drop-In Therapy Group on Wednesdays and the Rainbow Group on Fridays. Next semester SCS will run the Families and Friends in Addiction Group on Tuesdays and Mindful Menstruation on Thursdays.
There are also several groups students can pre-register for ahead of next semester, including the Bereavement Support Group, Compassion-Focused Therapy, Social Anxiety Group, Surviving Your Postgraduate Experience, Unified Protocol, and Mind, Body, Boost. SCS also offers a referral-only Ongoing Therapy Group and Emotion-Focused Group Therapy for Eating and Body Concerns. Time, location and additional information about all groups can be found here.
As the group session prepared to begin, the reception area grew momentarily quiet before a tutor called seeking urgent assistance for their tutee, prompting the team to involve the back-up duty counsellor. While wrapping up the call, a referral from College Health arrived in the inbox. The Deputy Director Jo stepped in to handle the referral while the duty counsellor remained in session.
Once all emergencies were under control, Aga tried for a third attempt at contacting a student with an appointment offer. Their spot would be offered to the next student if the service didn’t hear from the student by the end of the next day. They also needed to “chase down” another student who received a referral the previous Friday.
Even as the reception area cleared out in the evening, receptionists continued working. Reminders were sent for the next day’s sessions — especially the late-night ones until 8pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They also ensured that the daily counselling slots in Trinity Hall were filled.
As everyone wrapped up their tasks for the day, checking on one-to-one appointments and workshops with Student Learning Development and liaising with S2S colleagues to ask if they need the seminar room for mentors or peer supporters, someone checks in that everyone is OK and that all the crisis situations are stable so they can go home.
“Sometime around 3am, I wake up and think, Did I double-check if that student was offered another opportunity to connect with us?” Aga said.
