Counselling

Savvy_Sue

Errata wrote: »

I had half a dozen sessions with a psychologist when I was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer. It was very, very similar to counselling ( I have a counselling qualification myself). I benefitted simply by being able to get things off my chest to someone who didn't have an axe to grind or their own agenda.
Often just hearing ourselves saying things out loud in the company of someone else can make all the difference to one's POV.

I think that's how I feel about it too: work sent me after I'd had the brain surgery, I kept saying I was fine but really I was just in denial that anything unusual had happened - brain surgery, doesn't everyone have that?

I felt my counsellor was there for me. She didn't need or expect anything from me, unlike what I felt about all my other relationships at the time.

When I get ropey now, it's sometimes enough to work out what I'd say to her, and what she'd say to me.

Mr_Toad

Buick wrote: »

I don't think counselling is a registered profession, and as such anyone can set themselves up as a counsellor, perhaps having no qualifications, or having done a few weeks at night school. This is another thing that makes me a bit wary.

I was assigned a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner by the NHS. To this day I have no idea what his qualifications were or what a psychological wellbeing practitioner actually is! I felt I was just going along with it so that my GP didn't get annoyed with me for not going. I did get something from it, but I wasn't able to tell him about things that were really troubling me, and he seemed to want to keep doing tests where you score yourself points for how you've been feeling that day on a score of 1 - 10, which I didn't find at all helpful.

Those scoring questions weren't to make you feel better, they were a way for the councilor to find out what was pushing your buttons and what situations made you feel uncomfortable without asking direct questions so that they knew what direction to take and what tools to use.

Counseling isn't about you saying "this and that are wrong" and the Councillor responding with "you need to do A & B and you'll be fixed. Next."

marisco_2

I am glad to hear that a counsellor has been assigned to you and will be in contact with you soon. I think you have the right approach to it all by keeping an open mind. Hope you will find it beneficial Edwardia

bestpud

Yorkie1 wrote: »

As others have said, different approaches suit different people and don't think it's not for you at all if you're not happy with the first approach.

I also think that sometimes it is worth doing counselling in stages, in that you're sometimes only ready to deal with certain things at certain points in your life. It can take time to assimilate one lot before moving on to the next when you feel the prompt to do so.

That has been my experience.

I saw a fantastic psychologist in my late 20s who saved my life really and got me to a point where I could function day to day. I couldn't go further than that at the time though.

It was several years later that I had counselling and finished the job, so to speak.

At one point I felt I should have pushed on earlier but I know I wasn't ready and it wouldn't have worked.