Study psychologist services for students

• New individual appointment times are added to the booking system on Wednesday mornings until May 25. New appointment times for the autumn semester are added from Wednesday August 17 on.  
• Individual couseling times are available also for doctoral researchers (see more information below). 
• For now, the first individual appointment is conducted online. We are using a protected online connection (Diarium) for the counseling sessions; it is also possible by phone or through chat.   
• As of February 10, 2022, the Student services and Study psychologists will jointly organize Tomato Thursdays: hybrid study sessions open to all students, based on the Pomodoro and SMART study techniques. For more information, please see details below.
• Check out the recording of the webinar Study stress and exhaustion in English held by study psychologists in the spring of 2021 (subtitles can be turned on by pressing the CC button on the video). 
• Available support for well-being can be found on the page mental well being. 

The study psychologists help University of Helsinki bachelor’s and master’s degree students with study-related problems. If your answer to any of the questions below is “yes”, you can schedule an appointment for individual or small group counselling with a study psychologist. Before contacting a study psychologist, please read the Support for studies -materials prepared by the study psychologists.

• Are your study skills inadequate?
• Do you have problems with time management?
• Do you suffer from a lack of motivation?
• Are you stressed and close to exhaustion?
• Is anxiety affecting your studies?
• Is nothing ever enough? 
• Are you unsure about resuming your studies after a break?
• Do you have a learning disability?
• Are you struggling with your master’s or bachelor’s thesis?
• Are you being discriminated against or bullied?

Small group interventions and workshops are offered mainly in Finnish. Participants who understand Finnish can take part in discussions and written exercises during the sessions also in English or Swedish. For more information about current interventions, please check the Finnish language version of this webpage (change language in the upper right corner of the page). 

Challenges in independent studies

Trouble starting tasks and getting things done? In this group you can receive support for performing independent study assignments. Please check this website in Finnish for more information about dates and registration.

Study stress and exhaustion-webinar

Feeling stuck and alone? Experiencing challenges with getting things done? Have you started to feel like nothing you do in your studies is good enough? You can find the recording of the webinar here (subtitles become available when you press the video's CC-button). You can take a closer look at the presentation material here (pdf).

From autumn of 2021, the study psychologists' counselling is available also for doctoral researchers. The services are aimed especially at those who are doing their doctoral studies with the support of grants or other external funding. If you are employed by the university, apply primarily for occupational health services. In Flamma you can find more information about occupational health services. 

The study psychologist offers an external perspective on, for example, the following challenges related to doctoral education: stress, motivational problems, procrastination, reconciling studies and other parts of life, or challenges related to dissertation supervision.

Book an appointment for individual counselling from the booking system. Make sure you select the time offered for doctoral researchers from the drop-down menu.

As of February 10, 2022, the Student services and Study psychologists will jointly organize hybrid study sessions open to all students, based on the Pomodoro technique. Other learning techniques, such as the SMART learning technique, is sometimes introduced and used in the beginning of the sessions. You can participate by joining the meetings via the link below or by coming to the Guidance Corner. The goal of the study sessions is to provide you with a time and place where you get to study under guidance with other students. There is no separate registration for the event. Instructions will be given in both in Finnish and in English when needed.

Tomato Thursday study session every Thursday at 10-12, starting 10.2.2022.

Be sure to bring your own study assignment and notes to the meeting

Once a month the focus is on one study-related theme introduced by study psychologists

17.2.2022, Challenging task: support for overcoming the difficulty of getting started

14.4.2022, Exams and deadlines approaching?: Support for the final sprint

12.5.2022, Tools for focusing without multitasking

Join the Zoom-session:

• Join Zoom Meeting
• Meeting ID: 695 7049 1387
• Passcode: 819012

General instructions

If you are participating in a Tomato Thursday study session for the first time, join the meeting on time. The leader of the session will shortly go through the idea and gives tips on how to help you break down your own study assignments.

If you have questions related to the study sessions, you can send us an email to ohjauskulma@helsinki.fi. 

SMART and Pomodoro techniques

The Pomodoro technique is a great tool for honing in your concentration; the idea is that you work intensely for 25 minutes and then have a short break. Therefore, during one full session we will go through three “pomodoros”. On the theme times held by study psychologists, there are two to three pomodoros.

SMART tool helps you to break down your own study assignments into smaller parts and this way makes it easier to get going.

Instructions for booking an appointment

1. All counselling will be offered online at the moment. You can book an appointment in our booking system. 
2. Please follow the appointment calendar regularly if you don't find any available time immediately. New appointment times will be added weekly, primarily on Wednesdays. If someone cancels their appointment time, it will always be re-opened in the calendar.
3. Provide a valid e-mail address when making the reservation. You will receive a confirmation e-mail including instructions and a link to the virtual session. After booking an appointment you will also receive a text message. If you don’t get a text message please contact the Study Psychologist that you were trying to make an appointment with. You can find the contact information for the Study Psychologists through the page people finder and contacts.
4. If you need to cancel your appointment, please do it as soon as you can. The booking system closes 24h before the appointment time, after that cancellations are made via sms straight to the study psychologist that you have a booking with. If you already met with the study psychologist and have agreed on a meeting again, you cancel that appointment via sms to your study psychologist. Contact information can be found through the people finder.

Information about individual appointments

Individual counselling with a study psychologist is intended to make your studies more meaningful, and to enhance academic progress and your self-awareness. During counselling, the study psychologist and student discuss the student’s activities, thoughts, experiences and feelings. During and between appointments, a student can experiment with new methods and practise his or her skills. Counselling with a study psychologist is confidential. Study psychologists are bound by professional secrecy requirements and may not disclose information about students to external parties.

Individual counselling is available at different campuses, and students may request an appointment at the campus of their choice. Study psychologist services are available in Swedish at the Faculty of Social Sciences (Swedish School of Social Science).

Every student is allocated a quota of five appointments with a study psychologist. The number of appointments is always agreed on together with the student. If you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment, please do it as early as possible, via text message, so another student may get that session instead. You may also cancel the first session through an e-mail link that you will receive if you've provided your e-mail address while making the appointment, up to two days before the session. Cancelled appointments can be rescheduled later, but if you miss an appointment you have not cancelled, it counts towards your quota. The duration of a counselling session is 45–60 minutes.

Please note that there is a limited number of available appointments to the study psychologists.

Reception facilities

Centrum: Snellmaninkatu 12 (room 331); Fabianinkatu 28 (room 320)

Kumpula: Exactum, room D128 (map)

Viikki: Infokeskus Korona, Viikinkaari 11, 2nd floor, room 2043

Meilahti: Haartmaninkatu 3, room B111

Study psychologists

The study psychologists' shared email address is opintopsykologi@helsinki.fi. Please observe that you cannot book an appointment through email.

Mira Aaltonen (Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Theology)

Johanna Björklund (Swedish speaking students from all faculties, Soc&kom, Faculty of Educational Sciences)

Fanny Hedenborg (Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, & Faculty of Veterinary Medicine)

Seppo Hiltunen (Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Law)

Monica Iriarte-Lüttjohann (Faculty of Arts & Faculty of Social Sciences)

Emilia Karjalainen (Faculty of Science)

Jasmin Kurkaa-Kivelä (Faculty of Science)

Anu Lehtinen (Faculty of Science, Faculty of Educational Sciences, individual arrangements)

Johanna Mikkonen (doctoral researchers, Faculty of Arts, individual arrangements)

Kari Peltola (Project leader)

Janna Pöntinen (Project leader)

What types of issues can I contact a study psychologist about? What happens at an appointment with a study psychologist? Find answers to frequently asked questions.

The Study Psychologist services follow secure data protection principles. More detailed information about how your personal data is processed can be found in the document for secure data protection principles. (Unfortunately this description is only available in Finnish at the moment. It will be made available in English as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Study Psychologists!)