What is Counselling?

Counselling is a professional relationship that empowers individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellbeing, education, life and career goals. The following are key aspects that define counselling:

1. Therapeutic Relationship: Counselling involves a collaborative and confidential relationship between a trained counsellor and a client, where trust and mutual respect are paramount.
2. Professional Guidance: Counsellors provide professional support and guidance to assist clients understand and navigate their emotions, thoughts, and behaviours – ideally it is client-led: the counsellor reflects to the client the substance of what the client is presenting such that the client can gain greater insights and understanding of the situation or issues arising in the scenario – it is not advice service – the therapist is there to assist the client to find their options and enhance the client’s sense of independence (autonomy) and confidence to exercise their own choice (agency) – it is not to provide a quick fix for the client which would otherwise encourage dependency.
3. Goal-Oriented: The process is client led and realistic goals are agreed at outset at an initial assessment session that can be monitored and reviewed that focus on specific issues or objectives that the client wants to achieve or overcome, such as coping with stress, improving relationships, or managing mental health conditions.
4. Counselling Modalities: Counselling involves different styles, techniques and approaches: my approach is Integrative and so I include a range of counselling styles that can be tailored to assist the needs of the client: psychodynamic therapeutic techniques can bring unconscious processes to consciousness, gestalt dialogues can enhance our capacity to communicate our needs and the quality of our interaction of our immediate relationships between self and others, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can enable us to bring thoughts, feelings and associated behaviours and triggers to awareness, transactional analysis can assist us to understand our relational dynamics and interactive patterns with others, humanistic approaches assist us towards an empathic and unconditional positive regard towards clients, the importance of being congruent (present) of our own feelings and attuned to the feelings of others, transpersonal approaches acknowledge the importance faith and belief has in the lives of clients and in turn social, cultural, class, gender and sexuality are axes with which we identify or wish to be understood by others; addiction and depending on the needs and preferences of the client.
5. Confidentiality: a cornerstone of the counselling relationship to enable trust to build in the therapeutic relationship, which ensures that the client’s privacy is respected and that personal information is protected.
6. Supportive Environment: Counselling provides a safe and supportive environment where clients can explore their feelings and experiences without fear of judgment.
7. Empowerment and Self-Exploration: The process encourages clients to explore their own strengths, to realise the importance of choice and to develop trust in their feelings, which may not always correlate with what they think they know or may be at odds with what is expected out of a sense of duty. In counselling we look to develop our learning and understanding and weigh this by what we are able to achieve towards developing personal insights and coping strategies.
8. Various Settings: Counselling can take place in various settings, including schools, private practices, hospitals, community centres, and online platforms.
9. Licensed Professionals: Counsellors are typically licensed professionals who have undergone extensive training in psychology, therapy, and human development: they should ideally be professionally affiliated and adhere to the ethical framework of their counselling or psychotherapeutic organization: in the UK the two principal bodies are the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) and the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).

In essence, counselling is designed to assist individuals overcome challenges, improve their mental health, and achieve personal growth and well-being.