Therapy Tips Mini-Series: Do I Need Counselling?
The counselling process is an extremely personal journey that forces you to face your vulnerabilities and insecurities head-on for any discernible differences to be made. That being said, before embarking on this journey, there is a little bit of leg work that needs to be done so that you know you are receiving the best possible care.
Empathic Counselling Centre has created a mini-series bloglist that will guide you through the process of counselling. Through this series you will be able to identify when you should seek help, search for a "good-fit" therapist, prepare for your first meeting with your therapist, identify red flags in therapy, and evaluate your change process. The series is designed to help you be confident in your choice of therapist as well as empower you to make positive changes for yourself.
Before embarking on your change process, ask yourself this question:
Do I need counselling ?
My answer to this question is always the same, regardless of who you are, and that answer is YES. Why? Because therapy is a great place to just focus on you. It is a non-judgemental space where someone will dedicate an entire hour to just you. It's a great place and opportunity to draw meaning to your emotions, learn new skills for coping, work through past trauma, build and re-build relationships, and overall, work towards being a better version of you.
Therapy comes in many forms. When we think about counselling, we often think that it's only for those with "problems" and the role of the therapist is to help fix those problems. This is false. Therapy is for everyone and the person who "fixes" problems are our clients. That one-hour time slot can be used for goal-setting, motivation enhancement, refreshers, skills development, venting, self-discovery, validation, etc. etc. The list is endless. Therapy is not always talk either. It can be done through music, art, play, and meditation.
To be fair, there are many clients who only seek counselling because they are encountering crisis and need immediate help coping with the problem at hand. The role of the therapist would be to lend a listening ear to the client and guide him or her through reframing the situation, brainstorm solutions, learn coping skills, and whatever else a therapist deems necessary depending on the case and their theoretical orientation.
Regardless of the need or reason, anyone, including you can benefit from counselling. Now that you've accepted this, the next step is to find a suitable therapist. Stay connected as our next post will teach you what to look for when searching for one.