Psychological Services for Students

​​​​​Student Building, New Wing, 2nd Floor

Tel: 08-6461088

Email: vip+pserv@bgu.ac.il

Director of the Service: Alexandra Klein Rafaeli​.

Coordinator of the Unit for Psychological Service and Professional and Academic Guidance Ariela Sela.

BGU students experiencing emotional distress are welcome to contact us for consultation and therapy. The Unit offers a variety of services including: individual and group therapy, psychiatric consultations, and psychological evaluations. All services offered are guided by current clinical research and best practice guidelines, to ensure that students receive effective treatments tailored to their individual needs.

Any referral to the Unit, and all information provided to the Unit staff, are kept in strict confidence. Only Unit staff has access to this information, so as to provide students with the most professional and confidential care. No party outside of the Unit will receive any information about a student's contact with the Unit, or about the services the student is receiving at the Unit, without the explicit and written request/permission of the student.  [There are rare exceptions to this rule, in cases of serious crisis and immediate threat to one's wellbeing].

For inquiries or to leave a message, please call tel. 08-6461088 or e-mail: vip+pserv@bgu.ac.il

Clini​cal Staff​

Unit services are provided by senior staff psychologists and a team of skilled clinicians with backgrounds in clinical psychology and clinical social work. The Unit is recognized by the Psychological Board of the Ministry of Health as an official internship site for clinical psychology interns and practicum students. Supervision is provided for those still in training.

Referring to the P​sychological Service​

If you would like to meet one of our staff for a consultation Please contact us by mail: vip+pserv@bgu.ac.il or phone: 08-6461088. ​

Following the screening, appropriate recommendations for further care will be given. Because of the volume of referrals, students may be placed on a waitlist for the next available appropriate treatment, and/or may be provided with information regarding alternative service providers. All treatments at the Unit are time-limited. 

For issues related to housing, financial, academic accommodations, or vocational counseling please refer to Student Services.
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Options discussed at screening​

The Sylvia A. Brodsky Psychological Walk-In Service.

The Sylvia A. Brodsky Psychological Walk-In Service is designed to quickly respond to students who have urgent problems and are in crisis. During the COVID pandemic, this Service can offer brief interventions focused on evaluation, support, and triage via tele-therapy (Zoom or phone). When appropriate, students may also be assigned a therapist for a brief intervention (3-6 sessions). Such brief interventions are meant to help the student gain some relief and stabilize while they are on our waiting list for more comprehensive services. Brief interventions of this nature can help individuals with current distress including mild-to-moderate depression or anxiety.

Psychiatric Consultation.

Students who see one of the Unit clinicians for therapy can also meet with our staff psychiatrist for consultation. The purpose of such consultations are to assess current symptoms and evaluate the possibility of a psychopharmacological intervention. These consultations do not replace the need to see a psychiatrist or primary care physician from one's health insurance, or a private doctor, who will prescribe, manage and monitor medications and ongoing status.

Psychodiagnostic Evaluation/Assessment (3-4 sessions).

At times, it is useful to gather additional information in a focused assessment process, which can help identify or select tailored recommendations for effective treatment. When indicated or needed, therapists may recommend that a student receive psycho-diagnostic assessment by a Unit staff person. Assessment can help evaluate the student's strengths and challenges. It can help clarify concerns regarding behavior, relationships, emotional functioning, and symptomatology. Evaluations/assessments use various tools, including questionnaires, intelligent tests, and projective tests.  The evaluation is followed by a feedback session.

Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (16 sessions).​​

Short-term dynamic psychotherapy focuses on troubling feelings or thoughts that interfere with relationships, communication, and daily functioning. The aim of therapy is to promote a sense of wellbeing. This is done by uncovering the sources of such feelings or thoughts, based on past and present relevant events.  By applying psychoanalytic principles, this type of treatment seeks to understand the underlying, often unconscious (hidden form the person's awareness) dynamics associated with the problems clients are facing.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) - (16 sessions).​

CBT is a time-limited, structured, present-oriented psychotherapy directed toward solving current problems. The therapist and the client work together to identify their core thoughts and behavioral patterns, and to identify and strengthen skills that can change negative thinking and behavior. Exposure therapy, a form of CBT, is sometimes suggested in order to help clients approach rather than avoid specific fears.

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)​ - (16 sessions).

IPT is a time-limited, focused, evidence-based approach to treating individuals struggling with mood disorders. The main goal of IPT is to improve the quality of an individual's interpersonal relationships and social functioning in order to help reduce distress. IPT can address current feelings of loneliness and isolation that have been brought on more strongly during COVID times, and help students transition back to being with and around others.

Emotion Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) -​ (16 sess​ions).

We offer couples therapy for student couples who are dealing with various relationship-related problems, such as: repeated quarrels, difficulties in communication, and gaps related to expectations from the relationship. The therapist helps to define the difficulties and goals on both ends of the relationship, and understand the negative loops (or interactional cycles) that keep the couple stuck in the same old conflicts and arguments. EFT is designed to help members of the couple better understand how they are feeling, what they need, and what their partner feels and needs. EFT has the potential to not only reduce distress and improve participants' well-being, but also transform relationships and point couples towards a healthier, productive direction. ​

Group Interventions.​

At times, Unit staff may suggest a group intervention. Groups usually run for 8 sessions and typically focus on a particular issue, such as academic stress, interpersonal relationships or social anxiety. The process of joining a group begins with completing an information form and then participating in an individual intake. Below are descriptions of some of the groups run by the Unit.

Coping with Academic Pressure by Improving Social-Emotional Funct​ioning.

Focus: Managing academic difficulties by recognizing and improving emotional and interpersonal functioning.  Ineffective coping with academic tasks can affect the student's emotional state, increase stress and affect their mood and their interpersonal functioning – whether through isolation or through conflicts with close others. Using CBT and IPT skills, students in this group will acquire skills that strengthen their functioning in each of these domains.

IPT Group for reducing sympto​​ms of distress, anxiety, and depression.

Focus: Improve interpersonal functioning through learning more effective communication skills and mobilizing social support, adjust back to university life after the pandemic's effects on daily life functioning (periods of loneliness, isolation, separation form loved ones, impact on studies and professional development).

CBT for Social Anxiety Group.

Focus: Learn CBT techniques that can help an individual manage symptoms of social anxiety. Exposure experiments will be used to help students approach situations which they normally avoid (presentations in from of class, contacting other students, going to parties, etc.)

Fees for Se​​rvi​​​ces

There is no fee for the initial screening.  The fees for consultation and therapy appear below. The fees noted include Ben Gurion University's subsidy.

In case of Emergency​

• "The Orange Line" Emergency Hotline for reporting urgent safety/security/health emergency situations only  for faculty and students - The hotline is open 24/7/365: 08-6461555 / 08-6461888

•  Eran Emotional First Aid,  Phone: 1201

•  Natal -Israel Trauma and Resiliency Center, Helpline: 1-800-363-363

•  Soroka Medical Center - Mental health clinic, emergency room and psychiatric counseling: 08-6400351

•  Center for Mental Health: 08-6401401