What is Counselling
Occasionally in your life you may need help to sort out a problem or you may be experiencing feelings that concern you. Counselling can help you to make some sense of what is happening to you and support you through difficult periods in your life. Counselling is not only about listening to you but also about helping you to explore ways of making changes. Counselling cannot always solve all of your problems and sometimes may not be the most appropriate form of help but most people can benefit from having time and space to explore and express their feelings and emotions.
Counselling is sometimes referred to as a “talking therapy”. This is a style of talk which is carefully focussed on allowing you to express what is happening for you and upon helping you to become more aware of yourself and how you react to the world around you. Once someone has this awareness then the possibility of change presents itself.
Perhaps you have never spoken to anyone before about an issue which troubles you or perhaps when you tried you were not fully heard or understood. Counselling aims to really hear what it is you are saying and to hear it on a deeply personal level. There are three major categories of counselling. These are:
- Psychodynamic – Typically based upon the work of Freud
and Jung and other pioneers of the study of the human mind and how it
functions.
- Humanistic – Building upon the Psychodynamic ideas but
adding the human element and with a fundamental belief in the ability
of all beings to heal emotionally.
- Cognitive/Behavioural – Looking at our inbuilt thought patterns and behaviours and how they affect our lives. Challenging some of our thoughts and beliefs and helping us to change those which may be hindering our lives.
My training is in the Humanistic school of counselling; more specifically the following three models:
· - Person Centred
- Gestalt
- Transactional Analysis (TA)
My personal focus is primarily on a combination of Person Centred, TA and Cognitive with some Gestalt. I hold the firm belief that the ability to move forward is to be found within us all and that sometimes we may need a little help along the way.
Studies have shown that what really counts in a counselling situation is not so much the theoretical model employed by the counsellor but more the relationship which is built between the client and the counselor. Sometimes this relationship can form straight away and sometimes it may take some time but ultimately it is this relationship which can prove to be the most healing aspect of counselling.