Psychological Support Services for the Student Body
SAP's Mission
The mission of the "Servei d'assessorament psicològic" (or SAP) is to promote the students' adaptation to higher education studies, whilst assuring personal stability as well as academic performance.
SAP's target audience is UPF students in need of psychological and/or psychopedagogical orientation
•§ Direct Support: psychopedagogic and psychological orientation; individual interviews for orientation and support.
•§ Indirect Support: global actions; targeting specific situations and cases of students liable to receive help so that their emotional problems do not affect their studies in a negative way; curricular orientation on particular students or, in general to UPF Faculty.
•§ Awareness and Communication: The main goal of this stage is to frame the psychologist's role in prevention and hygienization; that is to say, to see to the human being - its situational crisis, its insecurities, its internal conflicts, its low performance, and so on - whilst favoring the loss of anxiety when facing a psychological consultation.
•§ We offer free and absolutely confidential support.
•§ How can I make my first appointment? You can request an initial consultation through any of the "Punts d'Informació a l'Estudiant" (PIE), that is, the Student Information Centers. You can request an initial consultation over the phone.
•§ How do I request second and subsequent appointments? After your first consultation, and following your therapist's instructions, you can manage your subsequent appointments through this very same web, under the link "agenda de visites del SAP" (SAP Appointment Planner): you will be given a confidential number that provides you access to your file and to manage your appointments.
•§ What do sessions entail? Your first appointment will consist of a personal interview with a professional who will listen to your problem and provide you with ideas or tell you about personal resources that can help you address your situation. It could be a one-time appointment, or turn out to be an accompanying process of 4 (max. 6) sessions approximately. Together with the therapist, you will establish the timing of the sessions to fits your needs. The professional therapists of SAP at UPF have the capability of guiding you and addressing you to more specialized medical and psychological resources.
How do I know if they can help me?
The SAP Services offers you
•§ Psychopedagogic Orientation and Advice
Psychopedagogic Orientation and Advice
As a UPF student, you have at your disposal a service that will take care of your learning and guidance needs from an educational, professional and vocational point of view. Our experts will guide you one-on-one and confidentially on issues such as the best way to improve your academic performance, such as possible professional outcomes to your educational background, or such as continuing education.
UPF also offers the possibility to receive information on issues related to studying and learning, facing anxiety during exams, or to job placement techniques.
If you have difficulties studying, problems concentrating, doubts about your exams, and so on, we can provide you with tools to analyze your way of approaching your issues so that you can change your habits and achieve a better academic and personal performance. If you do not like your studies, if you have doubts and you are thinking of choosing another study path, we can talk about it and work on your vocational orientation.
If you can identify yourself with one of the following sentences, we can help you find an answer...
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Study Habits and Techniques
•§ I can't plan: if I have too much spare time on my hands, I become too distracted but if I have too little spare time, the workload gets to be too much for me.
•§ I get extremely nervous when doing an exam and my mind goes blank...
•§ I do fine during the quarter but when exams come I feel I don't know my subjects, I stress out and it can reach to a point where I do not go to exams I actually prepared for...
•§ Bologna is stressing me out; I believe it is impossible to do all that we are required to do.
•§ It is embarrassing for me to participate in group assignments, as I believe I do worst than my class mates.
•§ I have so much work to do that I do not know where to start and end up doing nothing at all.
•§ During an exam, I feel like I cannot breathe properly, I sweat a lot, my heart starts going really fast and I can't remember what I studied.
•§ It is my last opportunity to take the examination for this course and I fear failing...
Methodology: Individual Orientation and group workshops on study techniques
2. Speaking in Public, Oral Presentations
•§ I panic at public presentations.
•§ When I have to get out there, my legs shake, my heart beats rapidly, it is hard for me to breathe and I can't speak
Methodology: Individual Orientation and group workshops
on anxiety reduction when speaking in public
3. Vocational Orientation, Professional Outlook
•§ Sometimes I feel I chose the wrong degree; it's not what I thought it would be.
•§ I don't know that I want to keep on studying this degree, but if I don't, then I wouldn't know what to do.
•§ My family would get really upset if I told them now I couldn't do it anymore.
•§ I really don't know what to do after I finish my studies next year.
Methodology: Individual Orientation.
At SAP we will provide a response to these consultations and queries. We offer you orientation by advising you on different study techniques because we want to optimize your academic performance to the maximum. Through personalized interviews, we will tackle whatever difficulties you might be facing such as discouragement, concentration issues, or low self-esteem. We will provide you with tips on adequate study programming, on best time optimization, on improving your learning, your reasoning and your memorizing, or on adequate exam preparation.
•§ I am going through some really tough times with my family/my other half/friend and it is bringing me down.
•§ I feel so alone...
•§ I believe people do not like the way I am...
•§ I just arrived in Barcelona and I find it hard to adapt...
•§ I don't know whether I want to go on with my boy/girlfriend.
•§ My boy/girlfriend left me and I feel horrible. I do nothing but cry...
•§ I don't feel like doing anything...
•§ Sometimes I feel somewhat aggressive, against everybody and against the world.
•§ I feel pressured by....
•§ I need to take some important decisions and I feel incapable to choose.
•§ I often cry and cannot sleep at night...
•§ I feel I can't stop eating compulsively
•§ I am homosexual but don't have the nerve to say it.
•§ Through the Psychological Service we offer psychological support to any student that needs it. On occasions, people go through difficult moments that bring discomfort, anxiety, sadness, preoccupation, difficulties to interrelate, etc. We want to comfort you, give you support and provide you with the necessary tools to overcome this obstacle, to overcome your issues successfully. This service is completely confidential and free, but a scheduled appointment is necessary. We, the therapeutics at SAP will accompany you in your process.
Office Hours and Location: Monday to Friday 16:30h to 19:30h. Sessions take place at our offices located at the França Building.
Please remember that therapeutic sessions during these times can only be requested via previous appointment through PIE (for first consultations) or through the SAP Agenda (for subsequent ones).
Therapists:
•§ Anna de Palau Rovira (Psychologist, SAP Supervisor)
•§ Óscar Caballero Figueras (Psychologist)