The Department of Psychology of the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa created, since 2001, the Office of Counseling and Health Promotion – GAPS. This free service offers students, teachers and employees a counseling service whose essence is to help develop potential, allowing the person to overcome personal difficulties.
For several years, European and American universities have invested in the creation of counseling or psychological consultation services aimed at optimizing students' personal well-being and skills. In the same vein, part of the Portuguese academy shares the philosophy that the University cannot be seen today as a mere place of knowledge transmission, but as a true “community of interests”, where students and professors aim to advance knowledge, factor of development of the individual and society.
The person as a whole is in permanent change, interacting dynamically with the environment, in its organic, psychic, social, cultural and spiritual dimensions. Learning and intellectual development are, necessarily, influenced by the way they experience themselves globally and by the strategies they find to deal with the internal and external situations they face in the course of their existence.
Confrontation with the demands and challenges of the academic environment sometimes trigger feelings of incapacity with an impact on self-esteem; the management of individual differences in the group context can trigger internal conflicts whose eventual consequences translate into isolation or demotivation; the uncertainties and decisions they face from a personal and professional point of view, trigger existential questioning; the way to deal with everyday stress can lead to inappropriate behaviors that are a source of psychological suffering.
The human person has the potential to help manage and overcome adversities, however, there are moments in life when, due to internal or external factors or pressures, the help of a specialized technician, in a context of confidentiality, is a more - primordial value for it to reflect and clarify itself, rediscover confidence, well-being and, consequently, improve the quality of life and its self-fulfillment.
Appointments: Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 7 pm
Contacts
Office of Counseling and Health Promotion
Adress: Rua de Santa Marta (building opposite the palace), N.º 47 – 5th floor – room 507
Email: gaps@autonoma.pt
Telm.: 21 317 76 87