Barriers to the Utilisation of Counselling Services by International Students

Abstract

International students are particularly affected by issues related to physical health, academic studies, and social andpsychological matters. Despite sometimes-enormous emotional distress, there is evidence to suggest that thesestudents are reticent to use counselling services to address these issues. The purpose of this study is to examine therate of utilisation of counselling services by students at two Australian university campuses. Ninety participantscompleted a survey that examined their help-seeking behavior, the barriers that hindered them from seekingcounselling, and how they eventually came to access the service. Follow-up interviews with a subset of thesestudents (n=21) were used to gain more detailed information about their use and experience of counselling services.Counsellors were also interviewed to obtain their perspective on these issues. It was found that several factorshindered students’ use of counselling services and that an overwhelming majority seek help from their friends andother fellow international students rather than counselling services. However, some sought assistance unilaterally, orby referral from academic staff. It was concluded that international students were indeed reticent to attendcounselling services, and there is a strong need for counselling services to be aware of cultural attitudes that act as ablockage to their utilisation.