Counseling, Children and Social Services

Counseling

Counseling and Social Services of the Kölner Studierendenwerk is open to any student at a Cologne university. This includes the University of Cologne, the Cologne University of Applied Sciences with its branches in Deutz (IWZ), in Südstadt, in Gummersbach and in Leverkusen, the University of Music and Dance, the German Sports University Cologne, the MU - Media University of Applied Sciences, the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, the Catholic University Cologne as well as the CBS International Business School.

A consultation lasts 30-50 minutes, depending on the area of advice. We usually start by clarifying your concerns together: We discuss what brings you to us and look for initial solutions together.
Counseling sessions are of course strictly confidential: we are subject to a comprehensive duty of confidentiality.

Up to five consulting appointments are free of charge. From the 6th appointment onwards, we charge a fee of 2.50 € per session. This regulation applies to the individual consulting areas (psychological consulting, learning guidance) independent of each other. Social counseling is basically free of charge. If two semesters or more lay between two counselling appointments, we restart from the beginning. We charge moderate fees for group and course offerings as well.

You can contact our office by phone or come in-person during our opening hours. If you request a consultation by e-mail, we will usually ask you to call us. This makes it easier to arrange an appointment as soon as possible.

We make every effort to see all those seeking advice as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, there may be times when this is not always possible, e.g. when there is an increased demand for appointments at the beginning of the semester or during examination periods, or when we are not well staffed during vacation periods.

There is no general upper limit for us. The scope and frequency of the consulting appointments depend on your concerns and our capacities.

Acute crises usually require quick action!

We are a counseling center with “normal office hours”. We are not an emergency practice or an acute outpatient clinic. We are not available 24/7 and cannot offer psychiatric care.

So if you find yourself in a situation where you urgently need support, you can contact the following services:

In emergency mental health situations, you can contact a psychiatric outpatient clinic/specialist clinic. You can find out the areas of responsibility of the psychiatric outpatient clinics in Cologne here or by calling 0221 478 872 91.

If you are in acute danger, you can call the police (emergency number 110) or the fire department (rescue service 112).

The telephone counseling service is available free of charge around the clock. (Tel. 0800 111 01 11 / 0800 111 02 22)

A safe first port of call can also be your trusted family doctor's surgery. They will also be able to take further steps if necessary.

Unfortunately, we cannot offer longer-term therapeutic processes, as this would quickly stretch us to capacity and we would no longer be able to meet our numerous requests.

If you would like psychotherapy or we come to the conclusion together during the counseling session that it would be useful, we will be happy to advise you and help you find a psychotherapy place. You can get a first impression of how you can find a therapy place yourself in the FAQ of the psychological counseling.

For our workshops and coaching sessions you can easily register by sending an email to bksa-sekretariat@kstw.de or by calling 0221 168 815 - 0.

Please note that the workshops and coaching sessions are only held in German.

We are legally obliged to confidentiality in our work. This applies to all areas of counseling (psychological counseling, learning counseling, exam counseling, social counseling) and to our office. Our obligation of secrecy naturally also applies to universities, examination offices, professors, lecturers, parents, partners, health insurance companies, etc.

Small talk among our consulting team takes place in an anonymous form. Should an exchange with third parties be useful or even necessary, we will obtain a release from the obligation of secrecy from you for the specific case.

You do not need a health insurance card: our work is largely financed by your semester fees. We do not bill through health insurance companies.

You also do not have to show us your student ID card: Your assurance that you are enrolled at a Cologne university is sufficient for us.

You can use our online consulting portal for this purpose, securely and anonymously. For security reasons, we do not respond to requests that we receive outside of our portal. We will then ask you to make a personal appointment or use the online consulting service.