Changing Unwanted BEhaviour (CUBE) Clinic

The CUBE clinic offers specialist support, assessment, and treatment for UCL students around their drug or alcohol use, or other behaviours such as gaming, gambling, or pornography

About the clinic

The Changing Unwanted BEhaviours (CUBE) clinic is a specialist NHS mental health service within the University Clinic. The CUBE clinic offers assessment and treatment for students experiencing problems relating to their use of alcohol, drugs, or other behaviours such as gaming, gambling and pornography. Our team consists of a consultant psychiatrist and a psychologist, and we frequently host trainee psychiatrists and trainee clinical psychologists on placement.

Who we support

The clinic is a free and confidential service open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students at UCL. Your treatment at the CUBE clinic will not be shared with the University or anyone else without your consent.

What we provide

We provide short-term evidence-based psychological support, such as an initial assessment, psychiatric review or sessions of psychological therapy. This aims to support you with your goal of choice: whether stopping a particular behaviour, gaining greater control, or changing aspects of the behaviour pattern.

We are able to offer face-to-face or video appointments depending on your preference.

How to make a referral

If you are a client and would like to refer yourself to the clinic, you can complete our self-referral form and return it to the email address: cnwl.cube@nhs.net

If you are a professional and would like to refer a client to the clinic, you can complete our referral form and return it to the email address cnwl.cube@nhs.net.

For more information and useful resources, please visit our website: Changing Unwanted BEhaviour (CUBE) Clinic (cnwl.nhs.uk)

Clinic Team

Professor Owen Bowden-Jones

I am a Consultant in Addiction Psychiatry at the CNWL Club Drug Clinic, London, and an Honorary Professor at University College London. I founded the CNWL Club Drug Clinic as an innovative service offering treatment for emerging drug problems, including novel psychoactive substances, club drugs, and prescriptions medications which have been acquired online.

My national roles include Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) and national clinical adviser at the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID). I am a trustee of the Society on the Study of Addictions (SSA), and a board member at the International Society for the Study of Emerging Drugs (ISSED). My research interests include emerging drugs harm, particularly in young people.

Dr Andrea Stoltenberg

I am a Clinical Psychologist and the lead Psychologist at the CUBE Clinic at UCL and the CNWL Club Drug Clinic in London. I have been working with children, adolescents and adults in the NHS for the last 8 years. I have a special interest in preventative interventions for mental health and addictions, including working with young adults to support them to understand and manage unwanted behaviour(s) and to combat the stigma attached to addictions. I was part of setting up the CUBE Clinic in 2022 and continue to be involved in research and service development.

Our team also consists of a number of trainee psychiatrists, trainee clinical psychologists, and assistant psychologists.

Client testimonials

‘This service has helped me enormously, even in areas that I didn’t know that were related to alcohol use. My therapist was really interested in working with me to overcome my difficulties. I would strongly recommend to anyone who is struggling with alcohol abuse to contact CUBE Clinic.’

'Things I liked:

I felt understood and supported in each session.
My therapist provided me with a range of ways to work around high-risk situations and supported me with using each skill until I was confident to do so on my own.
I felt like my therapist cared about me genuinely and I was not just another client to her
It was a collaborative therapeutic approach and I felt empowered and like my voice was heard.
Always felt validated.’

‘I found the sessions really helpful in genuinely understanding my problems and the patterns / cycle of them.’

‘I really benefited from CUBE's 8 session plan to systematically, and progressively, curb my behaviour. My therapist has been incredibly patient and empathetic to my concerns. His use of analogies have benefitted me greatly in helping me understand the points he is trying to convey. Students will definitely benefit most from this programme.’

‘CUBE Clinic helped me to get clear on the factors that contributed to my addiction and gave me the support I needed to begin to address them. The staff were thoughtful and helpful, and this made me feel comfortable discussing my problem. The advice given was very useful and I can now see a way out of my struggles.’

‘I liked the communication between me and the therapist – always getting materials after the session by email and notes from the session.’