What
is Counselling
Counselling is a talking process which makes skilled use of the relationship between the counsellor and the client with an aim to help the client develop self-knowledge, self-esteem and the ability to take control of his or her own life.
Counselling allows space and time for you to talk and explore in a private and confidential setting
difficulties you may have in your life. These may be feelings of distress, grief, anger, anxiety, dissatisfaction or a general loss of direction in life. Counselling prevents these feelings from becoming
overwhelming by offering you an opportunity to express, explore and understand them and not keep them bottled up.
By listening attentively and patiently the counsellor will begin to perceive your difficulties from your point of view and can help you see things more clearly, from a different perspective but without giving any advice or telling you what to do. Also, your counsellor can help you examine your behaviour or situations which are proving difficult and to explore opportunities of making some initial changes.
Importantly, there are some advantages a counsellor has over a friend. The nature of the counselling relationship is such that the counsellor is there just for you, so you don’t have to worry about taking advantage of your friendship. Furthermore, your counsellor will offer you complete respect, acceptance and
contractual confidentiality, and as a result you can talk to a counsellor freely and openly in a way that is rarely possible with friends or family.
Finally, it is important that you request counselling because it is your own decision and for your own reasons, rather than to please someone else.
