Your role

You might be thinking, “Hey, I’m here to teach or support learning – I didn’t sign up to be a counsellor!” – which is a great point, because being a counsellor is not your job.

Read each statement below and think about whether it’s in your role, or outside it, when assisting students – then check by dragging and dropping the statements into the boxes.

*Learning Institution* wants students to engage in their learning and get the most out of their studies. As a staff member, you can assist by noticing when issues are getting in the way of this happening. For students in distress, this means you can:

  1. Recognise the issue when it shows up. If a student is distressed or acting strangely, or shares a concern with you – pay attention.
  2. Express concern, encourage support seeking and communicate the limits of your role.
  3. Know the protocols for how to respond to distressed students in urgent and non-urgent situations.

Taking these steps gives you peace of mind that you’re doing all you can – while allowing you to focus on your main job of helping students get the most out of their studies.

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Protocols for assisting distressed students: Essentials (Staff course) Copyright © 2022 by RMIT Mental Wellbeing Initiatives is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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