We often find ourselves in situations which are less than ideal, and leave us feeling sad, angry or living in a state of general unhappiness, and more often than not it niggles, and we don’t know what’s causing it.
In my experience, people do not seek out counselling when they are feeling like this, but rather more when it has reached crisis point.
We are happy to spend money on going out for dinner or buying ourselves something nice to wear to make ourselves feel better, and yet when it comes to spending on counselling, it seems it is only when we feel there is no other option.
I imagine the reason for this is that there is no guarantee that we will feel better after one session of counselling, and often there is a fear that something about us will be uncovered that we would prefer not to know.
But what if we could just think of counselling as something that can be used to make us feel better? What I think most people don’t understand, is counselling, at its heart, is about letting the client drive the session. Counselling is about the relationship between two people; the therapist and the client, but it is the client that determines what happens in the relationship and what he/she wants to discuss, which is why it is referred to as person-centred. Not only this, but the client is heard in a non-judgemental space that provides insight and new perspectives. And if the client does want the therapist to be more directive, or provide more tools, or go deeper, then this is also driven by the client.
I know that with most of my clients, one session may uncover more issues, or insights than they were expecting, and yet the mere action of making a decision to come to counselling and talk in a supportive environment, begins the process of moving from feeling stuck, to moving forward. 