Need help now?
The Peer Support Centre is not an emergency or medical service.
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911.
For urgent health concerns, you can also contact Health Link at 811 (available 24/7).
You can also call the Edmonton Distress Line at 780-482-4357 (HELP) to talk to someone right away, 24 hours a day.
On campus, you can go to the University Health Centre in SUB during operating hours or the University Hospital Emergency Department 24 hours a day.
Appointments at the Peer Support Centre
The PSC is open during Fall and Winter Terms, including limited hours during exam periods. We use the scheduling app Calendly to manage appointment bookings.
- View our available times and select one that will work for you. Then select whether you would like a virtual appointment (via Google Meets) or an in-person appointment (in SUB 2-707). You can book an appointment up to 24 hours in advance.
- After you have made your selection, you will receive an email, confirming the appointment and a calendar invite.
- If you selected a virtual session, before your scheduled appointment, the calendar invite will be updated to include a Google Meet link. You will get an email from us letting you know the invitation has been updated.
- When it’s time for your appointment click on the link to join the meeting. It's your choice to be on camera or just use audio depending on your comfort level.
- If you selected in-person, come by room 2-707 in the Students' Union Building (SUB) at the time of your appointment and a volunteer will let you in and get you set up for your session.
After your appointment, we would love to hear your feedback! You can fill out our confidential Client Feedback Form here.
Customized Appointments - Email to book
The Peer Support Centre is proud to offer supportive listening in languages other than English, and/or with supportive listeners who share personal identities with you.
These kinds of sessions are available by appointment only, as we cannot guarantee the availability of non-English speaking volunteers or volunteers with specific identities for drop-in sessions.
To book a session like this, please email us. Read more about each kind of specialty appointment below.
You can expect a response to your inquiry within two business days, and if a volunteer is available, your appointment will be scheduled within a week.
Shared Identity Listener Appointments
The Peer Support Centre offers appointments with supportive listeners who hold a shared identity with you. This will not alter the type of support that is given to you, though it may provide further comfort knowing that this volunteer has a commonality with you.
These are the following identities that some of our volunteers may share:
- Gender: cis-woman, cis-man, transgender
- Sexuality: bisexual, gay, heterosexual, lesbian, pansexual, queer, 2SLGBTQIA+ ally
- Ethnicity: Arab/Middle Eastern, Canadian, Caucasian, Chinese, Egyptian, Filipino, Indian (Punjabi), Korean, Latino, Slavic, South Asian, Ukrainian
- Religion: Agnostic, atheist, Catholic, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, struggling with religious identity
- Other identity markers: Neurodivergence, ADHD
To request support from someone with a shared identity, please email psc@uasu.ca, and we will do our best to coordinate a time that works for you. In your email, please include:
- The common identity/identities that you wish to share the supportive listener. We understand and recognize the importance of intersectionality. We will do our best to accommodate for as many identities as you are hoping to share with a volunteer. In your email, if you have multiple identities shared, please let us know which one(s) you would like to prioritize for this session so we can find the right fit.
- Your general availability during our current operating hours. See current hours here. Please note that sessions typically last an hour (60 minutes), so please indicate availability based on this amount of time needed for the session.
- Your preference for an in-person vs. virtual appointment. Virtual appointments will be booked via Google Meet, which you can access with your UAlberta Google Account.
Supportive Listening Appointments in Languages Other Than English
The Peer Support Centre offers support in multiple languages in addition to English, including French, Spanish, Filipino, Tagalog, Waray-Waray, and Ukrainian.
Please note that while we can provide verbal support in the languages listed above, any resources shared during the session will be in English.
To request support in one of these languages, please email psc@uasu.ca, and we will do our best to coordinate a time that works for you. In your email, please include:
- The language in which you wish to be supported.
- Your general availability during our current operating hours. See current hours here. Please note that sessions typically last an hour (60 minutes), so please indicate availability based on this amount of time needed for the session.
- Your preference for an in-person vs. virtual appointment. Virtual appointments will be booked via Google Meet, which you can access with your UAlberta Google Account.
Other Information for Visitors & Clients
Click on any of the common questions below for more information.
The PSC is available primarily to support the campus community. This includes undergraduate students, graduate students, academic staff, non-academic staff, international students, students living on and off campus.
The PSC is located in the Students’ Union Building (SUB), on the second floor 2-707, across the hall from the University Health Centre.
Hours vary through the semester and during exam periods, please check our home page for our current hours.
Any issue that is causing you concern! We provide supportive listening services for any issue at all; no issue is too big or too small. Some of our common concerns include: exam/course stress, relationship concerns, mental health concerns, suicidal thoughts, unhealthy/abusive relationships, loss, identity concerns.
When entering the Centre for either a scheduled appointment or a drop in session, you will be greeted by a volunteer, who will direct you to one of our client rooms.
There, the volunteer can listen to your concerns and discuss how they have been affecting you. Volunteers can help with any sort of concern, ranging from exam stress, information on abuse or family violence, or suicide concerns. The volunteer will provide various exercises to help you uncover some steps you can use to improve your situation. They can also provide you with additional campus and community resources to give you an idea of where to go after you leave the Centre.
Please note that if the sign on the door indicates we are unavailable, we are likely supporting other clients. Please try to return at a later time or book an appointment.
If we are unavailable and you need immediate support, please call the Edmonton Distress Line (780-482-4357) to talk to someone right away, 24 hours a day. You can also check out our list of resources for additional support.
Yes, you can! We offer the same confidential supportive listening services virtually by appointment. You can book a virtual appointment by selecting to meet virtually in our Calendly booking page.
When your virtual supportive listening appointment is booked, a volunteer or staff will send you a link to a Google Meet at the scheduled time. It is up to you whether you wish to have your camera on during the session, or prefer to use your microphone only.
The volunteer can listen to your concerns and discuss how they have been affecting you. Volunteers can help with any sort of concern, ranging from exam stress, information on abuse or family violence, or suicide concerns. The volunteer will provide various exercises to help you uncover some steps you can use to improve your situation. They can also provide you with additional campus and community resources to give you an idea of where to go after you leave the call.
During our operational hours, two volunteer supportive listeners will be on shift at once. Occasionally, both volunteers are in sessions at the same time, and will close the main door to the Centre because they are unavailable to support another drop in.
If you come to the PSC during our open hours and we are closed, we encourage you to call the admin line (780-492-4268) or head to our website to make an appointment at a later time! Feel free to check out the resources or call our friends over at the Edmonton Distress Line (780-482-4357), if you can’t wait for an appointment for support.
The PSC operates on a drop in basis and our services are completely free! No intake or appointment is necessary and we offer confidential services, meaning we do not require personal information such as your student ID.
The PSC is not staffed by professional psychologists, rather it is student volunteers who support fellow students through supportive listening sessions. The PSC is a short term service, meaning we support students for just one or two sessions. Our volunteers are not equipped to provide long term support or follow up.
The PSC does not provide advice. Rather, we empower you to connect to your own resources and strengths to help yourself. We believe that you are the expert in your own situation.
No, our services are completely free to both students and non-students.
The PSC is a short term service. Typically we see students only one time because we do our best to empower you to connect to personal and external resources for this and future stressors.
If your situation changes, or you are seeking support for a new issue, you are welcome to come for a new session with us. Also, if you are interested in additional resources, or just don’t feel that your situation has resolved, you can come back to the Centre to get some more referrals.
Please contact the admin line (780) 492-4268 to speak with the Program Lead or one of the Coordinators. You can also reach us at psc@uasu.ca.
Volunteers who make it through our intensive recruitment process enter into 80 hours of mandatory training. Training is comprised of suicide & crisis intervention training, supportive listening and communication skills, and grief education.
Supportive Listening sessions can take up to an hour. If you don’t have that time, we can modify a session for you, but encourage you to stop by when you have the full hour available.
Our appointment booking platform requires an email address, which is what we will use to schedule a Google Meet appointment. The form requires you to fill out a name, but since we want to ensure your confidentiality feel free to put “Client” or “Anon” when filling it out. If you choose to use your own name, this information will be kept confidential within our service.
Yes, you can! Please check out our most common workshops and fill out a request form for your group.