Mental Health Counseling

When your studies become a burden – the Mental Health Counseling Service of the University of Potsdam can help you.

Students can sometimes lose their mental equilibrium, too: pressure in Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs is increasing through frequent tests and exams, funding your studies independently can become more and more burdensome due to the limited time resources, and job prospects are often lacking.

That is why the Mental Health Counseling Service was created at the University of Potsdam. Here, you will find somebody to talk to about your concerns relating to your university studies, such as:

• work- and learning difficulties,
• motivation problems,
• exam anxiety and fear of public speaking,
• writer’s block,
• or social anxiety

but also in case of difficulties and worries that have a more indirect effect on your performance and contentment in your studies, such as:

• relationship problems,
• conflicts in partnerships or with the family,
• problems with your self-worth,
• personal crises,
• or various addiction problems (media, substances, gambling, etc.).

You can make appointments for counseling sessions via e-mail (psychologische-beratunguuni-potsdampde) or telephone during the drop-in office hours.

Above all, the drop-in office hours are an opportunity to address your issues in a short conversation. After that, we can decide on the next steps to be taken together. As demand for counseling is often high, please allow for some waiting time in your schedule.

Individual counseling sessions (up to 45 minutes) will be arranged with you via e-mail or during the drop-in office hours and will be scheduled to take place outside drop-in office hours. In our initial first session, we will try to decide together how things will proceed. Further counseling appointments can follow or we can advise on the search for therapy spaces and assist you in finding a suitable support service. Counseling is confidential and free of charge.

For urgent crises and emergencies, we would like to point out the existing contacts for crisis management (e.g. Berliner Krisendienst), the respective social-psychiatric services or the emergency departments of the local psychiatric hospitals.

If you feel uncomfortable after taking your first steps as a university student, if you feel overwhelmed, if you feel homesick or if studying alone at home is a burden, we are always ready to listen.

Studying abroad can be both a rewarding experience and an enormous challenge. Dealing with a new culture and everyday life in Germany without the support of your social network at home can, in some cases, lead to adjustment difficulties. Psychological and physical symptoms are often the result. If you feel overwhelmed, anxious, depressed or irritable, if you suffer from physical pain or insomnia our Mental Health Counseling Service might be able to help you.

You can make appointments via e-mail (psychologische-beratunguuni-potsdampde) or in person during our drop-in office hours for international students. In one or more conversations, we will try to identify problems and find possible solutions. Counseling is confidential and free of charge and is available in German and English.