Counselling takes place when a counsellor sees a client in a private and confidential setting to explore a difficulty the client is having, distress they may be experiencing or perhaps their dissatisfaction with life, or loss of a sense of direction and purpose. It is always at the request of the client as no one can properly be 'sent' for counselling.

By listening attentively and patiently the counsellor can begin to perceive the difficulties from the client's point of view and can help them to see things more clearly, possibly from a different perspective. Counselling is a way of enabling choice or change or of reducing confusion. It does not involve giving advice or directing a client to take a particular course of action. Counsellors do not judge or exploit their clients in any way.

In the counselling sessions the client can explore various aspects of their life and feelings, talking about them freely and openly in a way that is rarely possible with friends or family. Bottled up feelings such as anger, anxiety, grief and embarrassment can become very intense and counselling offers an opportunity to explore them, with the possibility of making them easier to understand. The counsellor will encourage the expression of feelings and as a result of their training will be able to accept and reflect the client's problems without becoming burdened by them.

Acceptance and respect for the client are essentials for a counsellor and, as the relationship develops, so too does trust between the counsellor and client, enabling the client to look at many aspects of their life, their relationships and themselves which they may not have considered or been able to face before. The counsellor may help the client to examine in detail the behaviour or situations which are proving troublesome and to find an area where it would be possible to initiate some change as a start. The counsellor may help the client to look at the options open to them and help them to decide the best for them.

Models of counselling: Although there is considerable consensus about the core content of a counselling course, there are nevertheless distinct methods of counselling. Most courses start from a theoretical base - typically humanistic, psychodynamic, cognitive or behavioural.

Counselling or psychotherapy training?
It is not possible to make a generally accepted distinction between counselling and psychotherapy. There are well founded traditions which use the terms interchangeably and others which distinguish between them. If there are differences, then they relate more to the individual psychotherapist's or counsellor's training and interests and to the setting in which they work, rather than to any intrinsic difference in the two activities. A psychotherapist working in a hospital is likely to be more concerned with severe psychological disorders than with the wider range of problems about which it is appropriate to consult a counsellor. In private practice, however, a psychotherapist is more likely to accept clients whose need is less severe. Similarly, in private practice a counsellor's work will overlap with that of a psychotherapist. Those counsellors, however, who work for voluntary agencies or in educational settings such as schools and colleges usually concentrate more on the 'everyday' problems and difficulties of life than on the more severe psychological disorders. Many are qualified to offer therapeutic work which in any other context would be called psychotherapy.

Counselling

'I'm fine; there's nothing wrong with me.'

This is the sort of thing you might hear from someone facing difficulties in the workplace coupled with difficulties at home.

They are finding the stress too much to handle, yet they feel they need to be seen to be coping.

It's a depressing scenario and one which more and more people are facing.

They can't cope as well as they used to be able to and they really don't know what to do about it.

On the other hand they don't want to appear weak and vulnerable or jeopardise their careers by appearing unable to cope.

Even with the current acceptance of counselling as a healthy option for those working under stressful conditions, there's still a reluctance for some of us to use counselling when things get rough.

Sometimes things have to get so rough that the person's in a right state so that there is really no option left, other than a breakdown or burnout.

Counselling is not a magic bullet

Counselling can't change the external pressures you work under.

What it can do is provide strategies for coping with difficulties and insight into your behaviour.

It can help you see how you impact on others and how their behaviour affects you.

Counselling also gives you the bigger picture and puts your current situation into a wider context.

This is really valuable, as many of us just cannot see what else may be going on.

In times of stress we all find it harder to see clearly by ourselves.

Equally important is that counselling offers you a safe place to confide and off-load your current problems and issues with no career limiting consequences.

Objectivity, perception and empathy are part of the counselling process.

Counselling can help you be more yourself while handling the everyday pressures of life more effectively.

What is Counselling?

Counselling helps you to explore and manage whatever is happening in your life. Maybe you have some worries or concerns that you need to think through, or possibly some difficult decisions to make. Counsellors aim to help you through difficult situations and provide you with an opportunity to move towards a more satisfying and resourceful experience of life.

Counselling may help you with:

• Personal development issues
• Addressing and resolving particular difficulties
• Making decisions
• Coping with crises
• Making sense of complex and possibly conflicting feelings
• Improving relationships with others

The counsellor's role is to facilitate your self-exploration in ways that respect your values, personal resources and capacity for choice within your cultural context.

Many of us expect to gain support from friends, colleagues and family members. Sometimes, however, our usual sources of support can be too close, inappropriate, or even part of the problem. At such times trained and experienced counsellors have been shown to be particularly effective in helping, especially in difficult or sensitive situations.

Counselling works best as a partnership. This begins with your counsellor as soon as you make contact. Good counsellors help you to explain what is important to you. He or she will ask questions and, naturally, will listen a great deal to begin with. Your counsellor will often clarify, reflect comments back to you and encourage further exploration so that you both develop an accurate picture of your situation. By looking at a situation from a fresh perspective, we often discover new possibilities.

You will find yourself encouraged to talk, to think and also to listen. Counselling is an interactive, two-way process. You do not have to tell the counsellor everything about you and your life, but you should try to be as open with your counsellor as you know you need to be.

Counsellors not only help you to understand your situation, but to review options for change and to make the best decisions about any subsequent actions. People often find that knowing they have a plan they have considered carefully from all angles improves self-confidence and optimism for the future.

For students in particular, major changes are an inevitable part of university life and may come at a time when the familiar support networks of home, family and old friends are no longer accessible or secure. Student counselling has developed in recognition of these extra pressures on students. It is quite normal to go through periods of being worried or depressed, of struggling with your studies or finding it difficult to cope with major changes in your life. At times like these people have many different ways of coping, and seeing a counsellor to talk things through can help you to make sense of what is happening and put you back in touch with your own resources. Whatever your issue, we invite you to get in touch with us.

WHAT is counselling is when a counsellor sees a client in a private and confidential setting to explore a difficulty the client is having, distress they may be experiencing or perhaps their dissatisfaction with life or their current circumstances. It is always at the request of the client and no one can properly be 'sent' for counselling.

By listening attentively and patiently, the counsellor can begin to perceive the difficulties from the client's point of view and can help them to see things more clearly, possibly from a slightly different angle. Counselling is a way of facilitating choice or change or reducing confusion.

In counselling, the relationship between the client and the counsellor is an essential part of the process. As trust is built up, the counsellor will encourage the clients to look at aspects of their lives; their relationships and themselves, which they may not have thought of or felt able to face before. Bottled-up feelings such as anger, anxiety, grief and embarrassment can become very intense. The counsellor will encourage the expression of these feelings, thus making them easier for the client to understand.

There may be some exploration of early relationships to discover how they came to react to certain people or situations in certain ways that contribute to their difficulties, followed by consideration of ways in which they might change. The counsellor may set out the options open to clients and help them to follow whichever one they choose. The counsellor may help the client to examine in detail the situations or behaviours which are proving troublesome and to find a small but crucial point where it would be possible to initiate some change as a start.

Whatever approach the counsellor uses, and these are only examples, the ultimate aim is for the client to make their own choices, and to put them into action.

Is counselling different from psychotherapy?

There is a great deal of overlap between these 'talking therapies' and the skills used are very similar. Both can help to deal with problems in a fresh way. Counselling tends to focus on a specific life problem, while psychotherapy tends to deal with more deep-seated personal issues which may bring about really profound changes. Fortunately, the distinction between counselling and psychotherapy is not a matter which need greatly concern anyone seeking help. Most practitioners of either activity, before any commitment is made on either side, will want to be sure that the help they can offer is appropriate for the individual concerned.