University of Windsor expands counselling services

The University of Windsor’s counselling department is expanding their 24/7 counselling service.

The My Student Support Program app was originally only available to the roughly 4,000 international students at the campus. As of this week, it is available to the entire student body, as well as recent alumni. 

The app connects students to licensed therapists any time of any day. 

Meghan Johnston, 19, is making her way through what she said is a stressful time. Johnston is taking an accelerated program in early childhood education offered jointly by St. Clair College and the University of Windsor. She said while she had options outside of UWindsor Counselling, they were not always available.

“My mom had a work benefit call line that I was able to take advantage of,” Johnston said. “There was a night that I was really, really struggling, like something bad was going to happen. I remember calling and them telling me that they had no one available to talk to.”

Mohsan Beg holds a doctorate in clinical psychology and has been the director of the Student Counseling Centre for 12 years. He said the app was rolled out during the exam weeks to help alleviate as much stress as possible. He added he hopes students can overcome the cultural stigma some place on seeking mental help.

“If you are struggling just know there’s somebody that’s only a phone call or a text away that they can help,” Beg said. “Sometimes talking about it and sharing it can make it a lot more easy to deal with and help you with coping and you get through it quicker as opposed to letting it linger and become a bigger and bigger issue.”

The app provides access within 24 hours to over 35 languages and cultures. Within a 48 hour timeframe, the app can access over 140 languages and culture options.

It is currently available in a number of languages, including French and Chinese. To address the growing population of Indian students, Hindi as a language choice is planned to be released soon.

To find the app either head to the Apple App Store or Google Play. For more information head to the Student Counselling Centre webpage or call MySPP at 1-844-451-9700.