While life is, of course, a wonderfully enriching experience, it can sometimes present us with circumstances or events which throw us off track. In some cases these might require us to face unfamiliar experiences, whilst at others we may simply feel unequipped to handle them at that particular time. Counselling offers the opportunity to receive trusted support and guidance in finding solutions.
What is counselling?
Although in many ways similar to psychotherapy, counselling is often a shorter term treatment which tends to deal with more recent and often quite specific difficulties. It does not aim to change the patient as a person, but rather helps him or her to better understand problems and so come up with solutions. It is often the best course of treatment for those who generally experience relatively high feelings of well-being and are normally able to resolve problems on their own.In the course of either individual or group counselling sessions, patients and counsellors work together to explore aspects of the patients’ lives and feelings and find solutions, mainly by concentrating on patterns of behaviour. The counsellor does not make any judgement of patients’ behaviour but, based on his experience, offers suggestions and advice which lead to the resolution of particular difficulties. The guidance which is offered often allows problems to be viewed from a different perspective, so enabling patients to move on and take charge of a particular area of their lives. Whilst counselling sessions are ongoing, they have the opportunity to try out new patterns of behaviour in the real world environment and make adjustments as necessary, and the sessions themselves would normally come to an end once patients have reached their goals or found solutions to their problems.
When might counselling help?
Although counselling is sometimes used as part of a wider programme of psychotherapeutic treatment, in cases involving specific, shorter term problems it is sufficient and highly effective as a standalone treatment. Relationship issues are typically treated through counselling sessions which enable a better understanding of how the patient interacts and communicates, and seek to find more effective ways of doing so.In some cases involving co-dependency issues, anger management issues, problems relating to bereavement or those which prove to be connected to self-esteem issues, such as workaholism, it does become apparent that the root cause of the distress lies in the patient’s past and requires more extensive psychotherapeutic support. Should this be the case, your counsellor will discuss further options with you.
As with psychotherapy, counselling may be carried out in individual sessions or as part of those which involve others. Dependent upon the circumstances of your specific case, the counsellor will discuss the most beneficial options with you in order to decide on the most appropriate and beneficial way forward.
