Student Counselling Services - Ethnic Minority Support Group
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Collaborative Project between the Student Counselling Services and Students’ Union - Sinead Crowley and Hamza Bana
Objective
This project aimed to create a fixed term, professionally facilitated psychological support group on campus for students from cultural and ethnic minorities in Trinity. The name of the group is The Ethnic Minorities Support Group. This support group is a therapeutic support space for students from different cultures and ethnic minorities, run within the Trinity Student Counselling Service. The group was developed in conjunction with the Ethnic Minority Officer in the Student’s Union and offers an inclusive and supportive space for members of these communities to meet, share experiences and advocate for their needs. This group is facilitated by a counsellor in SCS and an external therapist from within this community.
Impact
All of us are members of the Trinity community and we hold a responsibility to highlight the needs of ethnic minorities on campus, especially given the increased divisiveness in society, the recent riots and growing fear of students from ethnic minorities - what it is like to be othered, both within wider society and within students’ experience on campus. This initiative is a plus one step to offer support and advocate for change. We hope that this much needed support can continue to be offered to Trinity students from ethnic minorities.
There was meaningful partnership between the Students’ Union and the Student Counselling Services in the development, advertising and running of the group.
Testimonials
“This group has been very useful in my journey as an international student. I think it should keep going in further years.”
“Shared exposure to others’ vulnerabilities and issues has left me feeling very educated and better able to deal with issues.”
“I found this group to be incredibly supportive and affirming. This group allowed me to work through some personal issues and have my voice heard and understood for the first time in a long time.”
“I found this group to be incredibly supportive and affirming. This group allowed me to work through some personal issues and have my voice heard and understood for the first time in a long time.”
Key Findings
- The students (n=5) who did attend the group indicated that they found the group very helpful and strongly agreed that they felt supported to talk about their own experiences. They indicated that they would like to access more of this group. This group continues to run with the support of Trinity-INC.
- Having a facilitator from within the ethnic minority community was integral. Students voiced that this was important for them to have a facilitator who could truly understand their lived experiences and someone who they could identify with. They felt safe, heard, and able to share their own experiences of being a member of an ethnic minority group with other members in this shared space.
- The fact that it was a drop-in group meant that the students did not have to pre-register and could just come along to the group when they felt able to.