The Leah and Itzhak Shechter Center for Psychological Counseling Services

The Center for Psychological Counseling Services provides consultation, counseling, and workshops aimed at facilitating students' academic and life goals and enhancing their personal wellness and success
Urgent Help After Hours

What services are offered?


  • The Center for Psychological Counseling Services provides students with the opportunity to receive help and support dealing with various problems and challenges that may arise during the period of their studies. Services include individual counseling, as well as group options, including focused workshops about issues relevant to student personal growth and wellbeing.
  • Students who apply to the center may receive short-term counseling of up to 6 sessions, or a longer course of therapy lasting for one or up to two semesters. Our staff includes professionals who have extensive experience treating students from a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds.
  • Any RU Student who is registered in a fulltime or no less than half-time program of studies towards a Bachelor's or Master's degree is eligible to apply. Other students may consult with us for a referral to a suitable therapist in the community.

How to apply?


  • Students interested in meeting with a psychologist are kindly requested to send a request to psyhelp@runi.ac.il. Students who apply will be asked to fill out a form with some background information, after which an initial consultation with a psychologist will be scheduled, normally within a week or two. At this consultation, the issues the student is dealing with will be discussed in order to come up with an appropriate treatment plan. No fee is charged for this initial meeting.
  • Sometimes, due to a student's particular circumstances, he or she might be better served by seeing a professional in the community. In these cases, the student will receive help with an appropriate referral.

Confidentiality


  • Referral to the Psychological Counseling Services and the counseling process will be kept in confidence and will not be written in the student's academic file.
  • Rules of confidentiality are in accordance with the ethical guidelines of psychologists and the law.
  • In some cases it might benefit the student for the psychologist to be in contact with someone from RU academic staff or with a professional in the community treating the student; however this will only be done with the student's direct permission or in case of emergency.

Treatment Fees


  • There is no cost for the initial consultation. After that, a fee of 125 NIS will be charged per meeting. This is a subsidized fee considerably lower than the cost of receiving similar treatment in the community. Students entitled to scholarships granted or authorized by the Dean of Students (based on socio-economic difficulties) will be charged 50 NIS per meeting.
  • Workshops and designated group therapies for problem-focused coping, such as test anxiety and difficulties in interpersonal relations, may be offered during the year. The cost of participating in this type of workshop is NIS 70 per meeting or 40 NIS for scholarship students.