Christopher Haylock, the Head of Counselling, standing in front of the Student Services CentreTobia Nava for Varsity

by Erik Olsson

This article is 2 years old

The workplace surroundings of the recently appointed head of university counselling service feel surprisingly corporate. Christopher Haylock’s office is large and modern, but the space is bare. The room feels more adequately suited to a business executive fond of Scandinavian Minimalism than to a softly spoken counsellor, with an interest in dialectical behavioural therapy.

That said, I did not need anyone to tell me that Haylock is a professional psychologist. Quietly authoritative, his manner is reassuring and his voice even more so. As we set up by the window overlooking the New Museums site, I worry my recording device won’t register all the talking points he’s rehearsed with his communications advisor.

Haylock’s PR man is keen for the interview to go well. Our meeting comes at a pivotal moment for the University: it has just launched its new “Reach Out” mental health initiative. Devised in response to the University’s strategic mental health review, the campaign aims to signpost the increased resources and services available to students.

The extra 4.7 million pound investment follows a period of self-reflection for the academic administrators at Senate House. Five students committed suicide last term, and statistics indicate that the number of students seeking help is on the rise. Varsity exclusively revealed last month that intermission applications have more than doubled since 2013.

Analysis The JCR view

With six suspected suicides at Cambridge this calendar year alone, it is clear that the University is facing a serious crisis in student well-being. Launching its ‘Reach Out’ campaign this term, the University has acknowledged as much. But with mental health remaining a taboo subject, getting a clear view of the problems students are facing on a daily basis can be frustratingly difficult.

Speaking to Varsity this week, Ted Kehoe, welfare officer on Selwyn College’s JCR, helped to cut through that confusion by offering his perspective on the mental health crisis facing Cambridge’s students.

A JCR committee member directly involved in combating the student mental health crisis, he sees issues as primarily arising from Cambridge being a very intense university to attend.

“The environment here can make students feel as if they need to focus entirely on work and not slow down to take time for themselves”, he said. In particular, Kehoe noted that the short terms at Cambridge cause problems, describing how they lead “students to try to put off getting help until the end of term, which only makes things worse”.

This mirrors acting vice-chancellor Anthony Freeling’s view of the causes of the student mental health crisis. In an interview with Varsity earlier this term he diverged from previous University rhetoric, saying: “I think it is the workload in some places … I am pushing people to think about the workload and to stop that oversimplification”.

Earlier this term, Varsity reported that the number of Cambridge students applying to take a break from their studies on the grounds of “medical or grave cause” has more than doubled since 2013, with applications to the Examination Access and Mitigation Committee increasing by 258% in the same period.

Kehoe described the University Counselling Service (UCS) as a “great resource”, but he does suggest that problems with its capacity are contributing to issues around student mental health. “It’s come under massive strain over the last few years”, Kehoe told Varsity. “I think that sorting this out is going to be very important if we want to start to resolve Cambridge’s mental health crisis.”

Kehoe discussed the importance of the UCS as a “first point of call” for students in distress, noting that it was especially important for those who cannot afford private counselling. Although Kehoe acknowledged that the counselling service had its flaws, he maintained that “they’re taking steps to try to resolve the problems that they’ve encountered in recent years”.

Turning to the role of colleges, Kehoe sees one of their most important roles as “emphasising that there is someone at College for students to talk to — whether that be a tutor who can assist the student in acquiring professional help, or a welfare lead who can point students in the right direction.”

It is clear that the tutorial system at Cambridge has changed dramatically in recent years, and Kehoe observed that “students suffer when they are unable to find somewhere or someone to turn to for help”, adding that this is something that individual colleges could improve.

Although there are problems with Cambridge's system for addressing students' mental health problems, Kehoe was impressed with some of the changes made at Selwyn in recent years.

He highlighted that the new College nurse has placed more of an emphasis on mental health and wellbeing, adding that she has: "made an effort to work with student representatives”. He also praised the funding available from Selwyn to help students to access private therapy.

Despite Kehoe's optimism, however, it is clear that the situation varies significantly across colleges, and that — for now — the centralised University system is struggling to cope with the pressure.

Click to show

Confronted with these figures, Haylock speaks of his plans to “develop” the counselling service from “afresh” and to build “a service that is more responsive to students”. Haylock tells me that he wants to “learn from what had gone on in the past” and in turn, “to help the service transition from the point” where it was at. He does not discuss the service’s past failings directly or in any depth, referring to them only in passing.

But there is an implicit recognition that the University’s mental health services were inadequate. This becomes apparent as Haylock forensically lists his key objectives for the service. Amongst them: “to ensure students get seen in a timely and accessible manner”. The bar is certainly low.

Maintaining support at the collegiate level is vital to Haylock’s master plan, as it entails the “withdrawal of the college-based counselling system”. College counsellors will be pooled back into the central counselling service for university-wide use, with an aim of having one central and accessible counselling service by the end of this term.

The plan is ambitious, and it remains to be seen if Haylock will actually meet his December deadline. Though he may claim to have “widespread support” from Senior Tutors, pushback from some colleges seems inevitable. In a rare moment of candidness, he admits: “I’ve only been here six months so I’m still learning about the resources each college has”.

But this approach may prove successful. Despite having one of the largest mental health budgets nationally, the strategic review found that University money had not been allocated effectively in the past. A centralised system which eliminates inequalities of college-provided support might be more cost-effective. And, crucially, it would benefit all students, not just those at wealthier colleges.

It may also ease waiting times. Haylock says “every student who now refers to UCS should get an appointment within ten working days”. More counsellors means UCS will be able to provide support at the point of need, rather than at the point of accessibility.

But the “Reach Out” campaign, of which counselling is a core component, does not acknowledge the systemic issues at the heart of Cambridge’s mental health crisis. Haylock tells me that he would “rather have a student preemptively reach out if they are in distress rather than get to the point of crisis”.

Of course, Haylock is not fit to speak to the causes of the mental health crisis. He deals in its mitigation. It’s above his pay grade. But it seems that the onus is on the student to reach out, rather than the University to address want might lead these students to “crisis” in the first place.

The interim Vice-Chancellor notably deviated from this University line in his interview with Varsity last week, arguing that workload is the bigger issue. Haylock is never as direct, but he agrees that while counselling is “an important part in [the] network”, it is not “the complete answer”. The acting VC’s view is yet to be reflected in University communications.

I was still intrigued by Haylock’s comment on “pre-empting crisis”. Deteriorations in mental health are rarely predictable, and most happen “out of hours”. What mechanisms does the University have in place for students needing emergency help after 5pm?

READ MORE

Mountain View

Workload is the bigger issue, says new VC on mental health crisis

“UCS is not a crisis team,” Haylock says. “We still signpost people to the Samaritans”.

The service is, however, trialling an out of hours support system for Senior Tutors so that they can contact a professional counsellor when crises arise at college. Outcome pending, Haylock is hoping to roll it out to all colleges on a permanent basis.

Haylock has an unenviable task in front of him, and as our time together comes to a close, I wish him luck for the term ahead. Almost in relief of the interview having ended, he jokes that he is continually “learning” about the “complexities of Cambridge”. I laugh in agreement.

So too does the communications advisor. Speaking from the corner, he adds: “I think we all are”.

And as he gestures for me to leave, I realise that was the most honest moment of the interview. An unguarded comment recognising how difficult Cambridge can be. A small but significant admission from two senior University figures. It’s a shame they don’t do it more often.

Sponsored Links

Partner Links