The Listening Service

Support services available from the Chaplaincy, for both staff and students of all faiths and none.

The University Listening Service

The Listening Service offers appointments 9-5pm on weekdays, please email listening.service@ed.ac.uk to arrange an appointment, or drop by the Chaplaincy Centre at 1 Bristo Square.

The Listening Service is experiencing a lot of demand at present. We will match you to a Listener as soon as we can, and the Listener will be in touch to make a time with you.

If you come by the Chaplaincy Centre hoping to speak with someone then and there, we cannot guarantee that there will be a Listener with available time that day, but we can guarantee a warm drink and friendly place to sit.

To contact the Listening Service for emergency or urgent matters out of hours, please phone University Security on 0131 650 2257.

Winner of the Herald Higher Education Award 2022 for Supporting Student Wellbeing, and modelled on NHS Community Listening, the University Listening Service is the first UK-university staff-led Listening Service for students and staff.

It is no-fuss-accessible, radically flexible, 24-hour, and resourcefully diverse in the EDI background and varieties of professional expertise of the Listeners.

The Listeners provide a breadth of expertise from their years of experience, including: Coaching, Counselling, Mentoring, Community Mental-Health provision, Community Organising, Pastoral Ministry, Prison Ministry, and Spiritual Direction; Suicide prevention and bereavement training; Trauma-Sensitive training; Rape Crisis training; and Spiritual Direction.  The Listeners also represent multiple belief and faith traditions, nationalities and ethnicities, and diversity across the full range of protected characteristics in equality law, which lends the Service a very broad base of appeal.

What to expect 

The Listening Service offers appointments 9-5pm on weekdays for anyone who would appreciate 'a good listening to'. 

We offer:

• Confidential, non-judgemental listening.
• Help in times of crisis.
• Links with specialist sources of help (including faith contacts if you wish).

You can come and have a conversation about any concerns, difficulties or anxieties you may be having - nothing is too big or too small. 

Previous students and staff have used The Listening Service to talk about: 

• Academic stress 
• Loneliness 
• Relationship difficulties 
• Loss and bereavement 
• Life transitions 
• Mental health 
• and more 

We offer pastoral support for students and staff, regardless of religious affiliation.

You can come and have a one off conversation with one of our team or for a series of appointments depending on what's going on for you right now.  Conversations can be held in a variety of places, and could be over coffee or a walk.

Making an appointment

You can arrange an appointment by emailing us a listening.service@ed.ac.uk or by coming into The Chaplaincy Centre. 

One of our Chaplains or Chaplaincy Listeners will then be in contact with you directly to arrange a time to meet with you.  The Chaplains try to provide support as quickly as we can. 

Support is available in person, or by phone, email or video conversation (please email to set up a Teams meeting).

To contact the Listening Service out of hours, please phone University Security on 0131 650 2257.

The Listening Service Q&A video

Please click the video below to watch the University Chaplain, Revd Dr Harriet Harris answer questions from a student about the listening service and the support it provides.

View the Listening Service Postcard.