Delhi University has introduced a helpline to offer free counselling sessions to students and faculty members to help them cope with stress.
At present, the ‘Mind Body Centre’ located in DU’s North campus offers face-to-face counselling to girl students and faculty members. The new helpline, however, will cater to queries and offer therapy to all students irrespective of gender.
“So far we have been holding five to six counselling sessions daily. But, we realised that at times students are not so comfortable coming to the centre and sharing their problems. “They want to maintain their anonymity, which is why we came up with this helpline,” said Nilanjana Singh, Chairperson of the Delhi University Women’s Association (DUWA).
“There shall be expert psychologists, therapists and counsellors based at the ‘Mind Body Centre’ to deal with queries. “If there is a need for further counselling, we will call the individuals to the centre,” Ms. Singh added.
The new telephonic and email helpline will start accepting queries from October 5.
The toll-free number for the helpline is 1800 3000 7303, where callers can present queries between 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
A statement from the DU Registrar read: “The students can avail email-based counselling by writing about their problems on counselling@mbc.du.ac.in . The responses shall be delivered within 48 hours. All counselling shall be treated as strictly confidential.”
Regular face-to-face counselling, meanwhile, shall continue to be available for girl students at the ‘Mind Body Centre’ through appointments at 27667742 and 27666027.
The centre, which was set up last year, also has a Naturopathy and Homoeopathy wing besides the counselling clinic.
Those visiting the centre have to pay an annual registration fee of Rs.50, after which they can avail of the services for free.
The toll-free helpline number is 1800 3000 7303, where stressed callers can present queries between 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
