Why Counselling?
For many people, deciding to see a counsellor is the first step to feeling more in control of their lives. Acknowledging that you need help or support doesn’t mean you are weak, or self-indulgent. In fact considering the ever growing demands of the modern world, where many people constantly juggle family and work commitments, often without the benefit of traditional support networks of previous generations, counselling could be seen as a necessity rather than a luxury.
Emotional problems don’t go away by trying to ignore them. In fact we are increasingly recognising the link between psychological and physical health.
Suppressing strong feelings can lead to such symptoms as sleep disturbance, headaches, aches and pains in other parts of the body and lack of energy. It can also lead to unhealthy behaviour such as drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders and destructive or codependent relationships.
Counselling can help you to accept yourself as you are and also to make the changes that you want to make your life more satisfying and to help you reach your potential.
What is Counselling?
Simply stated, counselling is a relationship in which a professional helps another person better understand and deal with their issues or difficulties in order to help them improve their quality of life. Counselling is a process of change and it can be challenging. It requires time and effort but it is worth it. Counselling relationships can be short-term (one to a few sessions) or long-term depending on the issues addressed.
Common Misconceptions About Counselling
MYTH
Counselling is only for people who have serious emotional problems.
TRUTH
While counselling does deal with people who have emotional problems, it can also help couples who want a stronger relationship, persons having academic problems such as difficulty with motivation or test anxiety, people dealing with divorce, grief, stress, career issues, spirituality, personal growth, anger, sadness, childhood abuse issues.
MYTH
To seek counselling is a sign of weakness.
TRUTH
It takes courage to explore sensitive feelings and painful experiences. People who seek counselling are choosing to take a first step in resolving their difficulties.
Being human and asking for help does not mean you are weak. Some of us are lucky enough to have a good support system that we can turn to for help. Others are not as fortunate or may simply feel uncomfortable talking to family and friends about certain topics.
MYTH
The counsellor may not be able to understand you because he/she has a different background.
TRUTH
Counsellors are trained to be sensitive and respectful of individual differences, including the specific concerns of people with regard to gender, racial/ethnic, cultural, religious, age, sexual preference/orientation and socioeconomic issues.
MYTH
The counsellor will try to tell you what to do.
TRUTH
Counselling is not advice or a “quick fix” to problems. Counselling helps you explore your feelings, thoughts, and concerns as well as help identify your options and assist you in achieving your goals.
MYTH
Counselling should be your last resort to deal with problems.
TRUTH
This is truly an unfortunate yet common misconception. Many people view counselling as a way to deal with life problems once they have developed, but it can also be used as prevention. Just as prevention is important in the medical field, it can also be used in the counselling field to improve the overall quality of life by learning healthy ways to cope with life’s many challenges.
