Counselling Centre

Integrating the past, present and future

The University emphasises human development as reflected in all her activities. To this end, the Counselling Centre was established to provide an array of integrated services. The Centre’s approach is to provide personalised care to members of the University community (especially students), to help them function more effectively.

Guided by the code of ethics of the Psychology and Counselling professions, the Centre promotes the privacy and confidentiality of clients by treating every information obtained during counselling sessions with the utmost discreetness. Clients can, however, sign for their information to be released to a third party for further intervention if the need arises. The Centre works in collaboration with the CU Medical Centre, the Chaplaincy, Student Affairs, International Office & Linkages and the Student Council to deliver her services. A potential client can be self-referred or be referred by anyone, including a parent or guardian.

The Vision of the Centre

The CUCC’s vision is to be highly visible and recognized as provider of integrated supports that are integral parts of the mission of Covenant University. The CUCC aims at facilitating physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual health of students, faculty and staff of Covenant University.

The Mission of the Centre

The CUCC as a progeny of Covenant University mission is a comprehensive support Centre, established to serve the students, faculty and staff of the University. This Centre is committed to creating a campus environment that supports and values the unique contributions of all individuals.

Centre's Philosophy and Goals

The CUCC’s goals are:

To promote campus community’s awareness on the various CUCC’s services through provision of professional information and education.
To enhance the client’s ability to function normally and maximize his or her potentials, the CUCC offer’s an array of individualized services by effectively dealing with client’s bio-psychosocial needs.
To provide training and professional development in the various areas of its services.

The Objectives of the Centre

The Centre exists to develop and offer services designed to assist students, faculty and staff so as to acquire those skills, attitudes, and resources necessary to pursue productive and satisfying lives and to succeed on Covenant University campus. The goal of the Centre includes contributing to the overall educational mission of the Covenant University by facilitating the academic and career development; social and emotional well-being of students, faculty and staff.

In addition, the Centre is also to train new clinical professionals, provide consultation to the campus community, and engage in on-going research activity aimed at program evaluation and the assessment of student needs. The Centre considers it an important part of it mission to design and deliver programs and services to all that seeks it services in ways that recognize, respect, and value diverse backgrounds, characteristics and abilities of students, faculty and staff.

The Centre’s practices rests upon the spiritual and humanistic values of self-reflection, life-long learning and the development of the whole person. Services of the Centre will enable students, faculty and staff to fully participate in and contribute to the academic and community life of Covenant University. The CUCC promotes the psychological health of students and the campus community through preventative programming, clinical interventions and professional consultations.

At CUCC, services are tailored to the needs of individuals, including assessment, consultation, brief psychotherapy, and referrals. Through collaboration with other campus support services, CUCC contributes to student success, academic excellence and the creation of a vital, engaged campus life at Covenant University.

ACTIVITIES OF THE UNIT

Resource Library

A self-service Resource Room of the CUCC is underway and will provide information on various topics that include anxiety, career exploration, depression, trauma, self-esteem, test anxiety, and much more. Books, videotapes, compact disks (CD), audiotapes, and computer programs at the centre are available for self-help.

Counselling and Psychological Services

Individual Counselling

The clinical professional staff helps clients explore, understand, and work through problems on an individual basis. Individual counseling can help students find alternatives, expand choices and overcome obstacles that interfere with personal development and a sense of well-being. The clarification and resolution of personal problems often facilitate a person’s ability to concentrate, increase clarity regarding academic direction, productivity, career choice, stability, and enhance relationships.

A wide variety of issues and concerns are brought to the Centre. While some are short- termed and may be easily addressed after one or few counselling sessions, other issues have been present for a longer period of time. In either case, meeting with an appropriate competent professional can help a person address such issues and enhance his/her productivity and life satisfaction.

The issues that could be brought to CUCC include:

Anti- Social Behaviour
Adjusting to College life
Self Esteem and Body Image Concerns
Stress and Anxiety
Depression
Trauma
Eating Disorders
Relationship Concerns
Family Conflicts
Substance Abuse
Victim of Abuse – physical, sexual and emotional
Learning Disability.

Group Counselling

Couple Counselling

Crisis Counselling

Career Counselling, Assessment and Resources

Confidentiality and Privacy of Records

It is the policy of the CUCC that clinical counsellors and staff must adhere to the policies and procedures of the centre, CU policies and regulations and the ethical guidelines of the respective professions. All client records will be kept as private data and may only be reviewed by the client or the client’s designated representative with a written authorization from the client. It is the policy of the CUCC clinical counseling services to have a statement of these practices available to clients in the form of a statement of “Client Rights and Responsibilities” which is given to the client at the time of registration and initiation of services.

Reporting Physical and other forms of Abuse of Minors and Vulnerable Persons

Testing Services

Student Practicum and internship Experiences

The CUCC is an available facility to students of Covenant University Psychology Department and appropriate departments of other universities to participate in counselling practicum and internship, which provides an intensive supervised experience in counselling with individuals, groups and/or couples. The practicum students are exposed to the process and conduct of clinical assessments, psycho-education, consultations, and crisis intervention services.

These courses are designed to help students gain increased competence as counsellors/therapists-in-training, as well as to expose them to a variety of clinical activities and topical issues. Eligibility of an interested applicant is based on criteria set by both CUCC and the academic department of the student. Academic programs may include psychology and counseling.

These supervised experiential opportunities provide students from the appropriate academic programmes opportunity for development and expansion of basic counselling and psychotherapeutic skills, promote insight regarding human development, behavior and motivation, greater awareness of ethical issues, and an increased sense of professional competence. Practicum/internship students obtain counselling experience under the individual supervision of professional staff members of CUCC. In addition, they have opportunities to co-lead groups and participate in various educational and outreach activities. Through the training experience, students develop their clinical and consultative skills so that they can take on new professional roles.

The philosophy that guides both student practicum and internship programmes is the practitioner-scholar model, which is grounded in “learning by doing”, utilizing research findings to direct the counselling process. Practicum/internship students are engaged in multiple activities, which give them experience in individual, couple and group counselling, testing, and other related functions at the centre. The CUCC believes that the greatest trainee growth transpire through ongoing feedback in a sensitive and supportive climate.

Practicum/internship students also work in a supervisory capacity to one another through case conferences, training seminars and case review meetings. It is the aim of the Center that the training program assist each student to develop professionally, ethically, and therapeutically so that she or he becomes a competent clinician.

LINKAGES, COLLABORATIONS AND COMMUNITY IMPACT

The CUCC, on behalf of Covenant University in partnerships with Small and Medium Entrepreneurial Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Prison Fellowship Nigeria (PFN) and Nigerian Prison Service, runs “the Onesimus Project” in Kirikiri Medium Prison. This is a rehabilitative “life recovery” project for inmates who are at six months to their release dates.

The components of the project consists of psychological services including assessment and psychotherapy, spiritual development and counseling, entrepreneurial training, vocational skills training and one-on-one mentoring that starts six months before an inmate’s release date and continues for at least six months after release date. “The Onesimus Project” involves recruitment and training of mentors from various church denominational memberships of Prison Fellowship of Nigeria, screening and selection of eligible inmates, admission and matriculation, instructional training of inmates, provision of individualized psychotherapy and graduation ceremony.

CUCC is being actively represented and playing a major role in the University’s Faculty Support Programme (FSP), which plays an in-loco parentis role to students by ensuring that the physical, social, and spiritual needs of students are met and continually improved upon.

CUCC is daily represented on Hebron FM which is the university’s community radio station. The centre’s segment tagged “Body & Soul” is transmitted live to the community. This programme provides practical solutions on relationships, mental and emotional health issues. Staff of CUCC also serves as on-air counsellors for Hebron FM’s other programme where issues concerning marriage and clinical counselling are broadcasted to members of the community.

Outreach and Consultation Services

The CUCC is committed to reaching out to the university community. Outreach services that include presentations and workshops on various emotional/mental health topics and interpersonal issues comprise other important component of service the centre offers. The Centre sponsors programs that range from specific psychological and interpersonal topics to simply informing members of the CU community about the range of available services.

The CUCC staffs are also involved with other members of the university community such as chaplain, faculty, and healthcare professionals in providing collaborative programmes. In addition to workshops and presentations, CUCC staffs are available upon request to consult with faculty or other university officials about the psychological and academic well-being of students or employees. Whether responding to concerns about an individual who is in a crisis, speaking to a group of students regarding specific concerns they may have, or simply being available following a more public crisis or trauma, the CUCC staffs are constantly available to assist the campus community.

Future Pathways

Efforts to accredit CUCC as authorized Test Centre for different standardized assessments and foreign universities admission tests are at various stages. The Centre, in no distant future, will be able to offer many testing services and assessments to the university community and the general public.

CU students and students of other institutions will have access to a variety of standardized testing and test preparation materials from this centre. CUCC will spare no effort to continuously represent many international Testing and Assessment Organizations and maintain a library of reference and resource guides for the various tests offered. The CUC Centre Testing Services administers a variety of tests, including computer-based testing (CBT), paper and pencil testing and counseling tests. The current plan to offer these services per fee as may be prescribed authors and organizations that publish them.