Provide mentoring, counselling, or peer support programmes to support students, staff, and faculty from underrepresented groups.
Prince of Songkla University (PSU) provides counselling, psychological support and peer-support programmes to promote the well-being and participation of students and staff, including individuals who may experience social, economic, psychological or other barriers to full participation in university life.
Counselling and Psychological Support for Students
PSU provides professional psychological counselling services across all five campuses. Services are delivered by psychologists and psychiatrists through multiple channels, including referral by faculties or units, walk-in services, hotline support, online contact, individual counselling, group counselling and family therapy.
In 2025, 690 students across PSU’s five campuses used psychological counselling services, including 526 women (76.23%) and 164 men (23.77%).
These services help students manage emotional, psychological, academic and personal challenges and provide appropriate referral to specialist support when needed.
Peer Support for Students
PSU also operates structured peer-support initiatives to strengthen student-to-student support.
The Peer to Peer Mental Health Supporters programme develops a network of students who are interested in mental health and trained to provide first-line support to peers while working alongside student affairs officers in the proactive monitoring and promotion of student mental health.
The Peer Support: Strength of Friends, Strength of Heart programme develops student leaders’ skills in listening, providing encouragement and referring fellow students to appropriate professional support when necessary. It also builds a network of student mental-health leaders within the University.
These peer-support mechanisms help create an accessible and supportive environment in which students can seek help from trusted peers before being referred to professional services when required.
Proactive Outreach and Mobile Mental Health Support
To reduce barriers to accessing counselling, PSU also provides proactive outreach services.
The Mindcare on Tour: The Mobile Mind Clinic brings psychological services directly into student areas and provides opportunities for conversation, listening, counselling, mental-health screening and referral to appropriate care. The programme is designed to improve accessibility, reduce hesitation in seeking support and create a friendly environment for students experiencing emotional difficulties or stress.
Other campus-based activities also promote emotional well-being, stress management, resilience, self-awareness and healthy relationships.
Building Staff Capacity to Support Students
PSU strengthens its counselling system by developing the capacity of staff responsible for student care.
The Foundational Psychological Counselling Skills Development Programme / PSU WHALENESS Team was organised for staff across all five campuses to develop first-line counselling skills, improve understanding of student mental health and establish a collaborative network among relevant units.
Additional training programmes have also been provided for educational personnel to str
engthen their knowledge and skills in counselling, prevention of psychiatric illness, mental-health awareness and appropriate referral.
Mental Health Support for Staff and Faculty
PSU also provides mental-health support for University personnel through counselling, psychological assessment and specialist psychiatric services.
Staff and faculty can access professional mental-health consultation and referral services through PSU health-care services, including psychiatric services and campus-based primary health-care support. The University also organises mental-health promotion and well-being activities for personnel to support stress management, psychological resilience and early access to professional care.
These services complement PSU’s student counselling and peer-support system and contribute to a supportive working and learning environment across the University.
Staff Well-being and Support
PSU also provides staff well-being programmes that promote mental health, personal rights and quality of life.
In 2025, the Hat Yai Campus Office, in collaboration with the Human Resource Management Division, organised the programme “Understanding Yourself, Caring for Your Rights: Enhancing Staff Quality of Life.” The programme included sessions on managing stress and emotional distress, understanding staff rights, and promoting well-being and quality of life.
These activities complement PSU’s counselling and mental-health support services by strengthening awareness, resilience and access to support among University personnel.
An Integrated Support System
Through professional counselling, peer-support networks, proactive outreach, staff training and access to specialist mental-health services, PSU provides multiple pathways for students and staff to obtain appropriate support.
The University’s approach combines:
professional psychological counselling;
peer-to-peer support;
early identification and referral;
proactive outreach;
staff capacity building; and
access to specialist mental-health services.
Together, these mechanisms strengthen PSU’s ability to support members of the University community who may face psychological, social or other barriers to participation and well-being.