Our Students

FAQ

What does seeing a Student Counsellor mean?

We work with lots of different students, including social work, social service work, and other mental health/counselling programs.

Seeing a student counsellor means that your counsellor will be meeting very regularly with their placement supervisor, to talk about the counselling process in general as well as to discuss any specific issues or concerns the student might be having with clients. All counsellors engage in regular clinical supervision, but a student counsellor will receive much more frequent and direct supervision. This could include (if you consent) having a supervisor sit in on your session with a student counsellor, or having your session recorded for your counsellor's supervisor to watch and provide constructive feedback.

Student counsellors are also more limited in the scope of issues they work with. Student counsellors usually work with clients on specific issues (for example, help navigating systems such as subsidized housing, or dealing with executive functioning issues). Student counsellors usually don't work with very complex or 'high risk' situations.

How much does it cost?

It usually costs between $0 and $80 per session with a student counsellor, depending on your financial situation and the counsellor's level of experience. The rate you pay for a student counsellor will be determined individually, but in most cases if you cannot afford to pay the suggested rate, student counsellors will work with you for free while they are a student with us.

Why do I have to pay to see a student?

The fee you pay for your student counsellor helps us provide supervision and training to our student counsellors. Every student counsellor has a placement supervisor who meets with them at least once a week, but often more than that. Supervising students is something that many of us find very enriching and rewarding, but it is also labour. Charging clients a reduced rate to see a student counsellor means that we are more able to offer the kind of oversight and guidance that our student counsellors and our community members both deserve.

How do I know that a student is qualified to work with the issue I'm having?

By the time a student counsellor starts to see their own clients, they will have been working closely with their supervisor for a number of months. Their supervisor will have gotten to know them fairly well, and will be very familiar with their experience, training, knowledge, education, and skills. They will also be checking in very regularly with their supervisor, especially after your first few sessions with them, and their supervisor will help make sure that they are experienced and skillful enough to safely work with whatever your situation is.

Sometimes situations change, or more things come out after you start working with a counsellor. If it becomes apparent that your situation or circumstances is outside the scope of what your student counsellor can safely help you with, their supervisor should recognize that and help both you and the student counsellor navigate that situation. That might involve helping transition you to working with a different counsellor, or helping your student counsellor increase their knowledge and skillset so that they can safely support you, among other possibilities.

If you feel that your student counsellor is not able to safely or skillfully support you, we also encourage you to contact your student counsellor directly about your concerns. If this feels uncomfortable or too confrontational, you can also contact their supervisor or reach out to info@stardustcollective.ca to contact our admin team directly. Your student counsellor's placement supervisor's information should be in the consent form that was sent to you before you started working with your student counsellor. In that document you can also find information about how to register a complaint with the relevant regulatory body. We try very hard to make sure we are making ethical connections between student counsellors and clients, and if you feel that we've messed up and caused harm, we want to be held accountable for that and do better.

What educational backgrounds do student counsellors have?

Student counsellors have a variety of educational backgrounds. Some are working on completing their first postsecondary program, while others may have university degrees already in related or unrelated fields of study. Many of our students have a wide range of lived experience and professional experience that doesn't fall under the umbrella of formal education, but that we consider a valid and important form of knowledge. This is especially true for folks who face instutional barriers such as ableism, poverty, or other forms of oppression.

For example, your student counsellor may have spent years working in a crisis centre, shelter, or other front-line work, before deciding to get their Masters of Social Work. In this case, the years of experience they gained professionally are extremely relevant to their ability to offer counselling and support now, even though they have not yet finished their degree. Each student counsellor is unique and we look at each student on a case by a case basis to try and ensure that clients are never matched with anyone who isn't experienced enough to support them.

What happens when they graduate? Can I keep seeing them?

It depends! Some of our student counsellors stay with Stardust after graduating, and in that case you can usually continue seeing them. After they graduate, they will set a new hourly rate however, that reflects their achievement of their degree. If your student counsellor does not stay with Stardust but joins a different practice or starts their own practice, you are welcome and encouraged to follow them to their new place of work if you feel there's a strong connection to them.

Sometimes student counsellors decide to move away from providing one on one counselling. This might be because they have other career goals, they found they didn't enjoy counselling the way they expected to, or they don't feel ready to continue working as a counsellor. In this case, if you're still seeking support, we will help transition you to another team member who can help support you moving forward.

How Can I do a Placement with Stardust?

Reach out to us at info@stardustcollective.ca! We are a small team and we all have a lot on our plates at any given moment, so we don't always have capacity to supervise placement students. We do our best to take on students whenever we can, but we can't make any promises. Still, if you're interested, your best bet is just to reach out and ask!

What does it mean

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