This paper examines ethical dilemmas confronting the analytic practitioner working in student counselling in higher education. The author explores the institutional ambivalence that a university counselling service may evoke, especially at times of reduced resources and survival anxiety. Challenging aspects of the practitioner's work include the difficulty of responding to increased levels of psychological disturbance amongst students in the face of a reduction of time resources. The impact of time constraints is illustrated in a number of harrowing case examples, showing how expectations of psychological help for vulnerable students may not be possible to meet. The ethical basis for raising such expectations is brought into question.