VCC Counselling
Free and confidential services for VCC students
regarding personal, academic, and career issues.
What we do
At VCC, counselling services, are available free of charge to all registered students and applicants. VCC’s counselling team consists of trained, professional counsellors who are able to support you in the management of personal issues that may affect your academic performance or personal well-being.
If you are feeling upset, anxious, angry, stressed, sad, stuck, or confused, meeting with a counsellor can help. Counselling services can support you in difficult and challenging times.
Counselling can help when:
- You notice you are a little blue, not feeling yourself, and want to explore ways to cope better.
- You are going through a time of change or transition and need support.
- You notice that you are having difficulties with coping with daily life, or with relationships and feel stressed or confused.
- You find yourself overthinking things and feel anxious about your decisions.
Caring counsellors can meet with you to discuss issues you are concerned about. Counsellors are trained to offer you professional support, tools, and resources to help you cope better.
Not at all! Knowing to get help when you need it is ultimately resourceful. It shows you have the strength to thrive instead of letting your problems overtake you.
No. Counselling is a purposeful experience with a trained professional. It helps you gain new insights, shift in ways of relating to yourself and others, recognize and build on your strengths, and evolve in life. Counsellors equip you with proven tools to cope better and build valuable skills to use in daily life.
Counselling is not a quick fix, nor is it magic. Counselling is a process, and it takes time to gain awareness and culture change. Personal growth is a challenging process, but thankfully, there are counsellors who are trained to guide you through it.
Before you book an appointment
We would like to know what type of counselling you need.
May include:
- Resolving a crisis/emergency
- Dealing with depression
- Regulating anxiety and managing stress
- Addressing relationship and/or family difficulties
- Improving communication skills
- Building self-esteem
- Overcoming immigration challenges
- Developing assertiveness skills
- Managing anger and frustration
- Healing after a relationship break-up
- Coping with grief and loss
- Managing conflicts
- Processing unexpected traumatic events
May include:
- Learning to adjust to college life
- Overcoming procrastination
- Developing time-management strategies
- Managing school-related stress and pressure
- Dealing with performance anxiety or exam panic
- Learning public speaking skills
May include:
- Planning your career path
- Exploring your career values
- Learning about job trends and opportunities
- Acquiring job search skills and resources
- Developing job interview skills
Contact us
Do you need program advising?
If you are not sure whether to make an appointment with a counsellor or a program advisor, please visit this page first.
Mental Health Support. Clinically moderated, 24/7, and confidential online peer community.
By phone
Counselling reception for both VCC campus locations can be reached by calling 604.871.7000, option 2.
Broadway campus
Downtown campus
After-hours and off-campus crisis/emergency:
Call 9-1-1 if there is a risk to your or someone else's safety.
If you need to talk to someone about an urgent personal matter that is not about academic concerns, call your local 24/7 Crisis Centre:
- Greater Vancouver: 604.872.3311
- Lower Mainland: 1.866.661.3311
- BC Wide: 1.800.784.2433
- Here2Talk: 1.877.857.3397