Counseling Center for Research and Psychological Support

Aims and Objectives

The Counseling Center for Research and Psychological Support – SKEPSI – is under the Neapolis University Division of Student Affairs and supervised by the Department of Psychology. The primary purpose of SKEPSI is to provide free, confidential professional counselling services, including individual, group, marriage, child and/or family psychotherapy, to all University students and the wider community of Pafos and Cyprus. It also aims at investigating the needs of the community and assessing its effectiveness in order to improve the quality of its services.

The Counseling Center

The Counseling Center offers short-term counselling and other evidence-based mental health support options such as self-help resources and group events. Its team is comprised of experienced licensed psychologists and professionally qualified counsellors in line with the Center’s policy on clinical need and counselling provision.

The Center follows the Code of Ethics of Psychologists and has its own Code of Practice on Confidentiality and Data Protection detailing the nature and limits of confidentiality. A copy of the Center’s Code of Practice is given to every client prior to initial assessment.

Location and opening hours

The counseling center operates out of the main campus and is located in the Psychology Department. The center is open daily Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm and by appointment throughout the year.

Support Services

The secondary objective of the Counselling Center is to enhance and encourage the emotional well-being and mental health of not only the Neapolis University students and those who support them, but also the wider Pafos community. The Center seeks to reach this objective by:

providing professional assessments and counseling for career guidance
designing and implementing educational programs and prevention programs to be presented in the university and the community
providing psychological assessments of general personal functions, abilities, emotional disturbances, learning difficulties and professional orientation
facilitating personal development presentations/workshops for students and the wider community
offering advice and support to academic staff concerned for the mental and emotional well-being of their students and relatives
promoting understanding and acceptance of self and others in terms of gender, race, nationality, religion, age, political beliefs, and sexual orientation
contributing to training and the development of programs organized for staff and students by other departments of the University
providing consulting services, by collaborating and liaising with colleagues in other University services
offering high quality placements to counsellors in training and to maintain levels of education that are consistent with Cypriot and European Union legislation
monitoring the effectiveness and quality of program consultancy and to revise them if and when necessary and by
providing evidence-based self-help.