Counselling
Counselling involves the exploration of issues that trouble you with someone who is trained to listen and has no other role in your life.
Through this confidential process, your counsellor will be aiming to allow you to clarify your thoughts and feelings. It may involve talking about painful parts of your life and so you may feel worse before you feel better, but the end result is intended to be a positive one.
Counselling is often associated with times of personal crisis, but it can also a very effective way of developing personal potential. It can be helpful for a wide range of difficulties such as:
- anxiety/panic attacks
- bereavement and loss
- depression
- eating problems
- low self-esteem
- relationship problems
- sexual problems
- stress
- trauma resulting from accident, assault or abuse
At present, however, there are no national standards for counselling and psychotherapy. Under current regulations anyone can set themselves up as a psychotherapist or counsellor and charge patients for consultations. This leads to a wide variation in the level of competence and expertise available.
Until such time as statutory regulation is introduced, those employing counsellors should ensure that their recruitment arrangements are stringent and that therapists meet the training and supervision standards identified by the relevant professional organisations.
Those individuals using counselling services should be aware of what to expect from a counsellor and should be encouraged to work with counsellors who subscribe to professional bodies recognised codes of ethics and practice.
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy is the largest professional body in this sector and is strongly committed to high practice standards and the protection of the public. You can use their website to search for counselling services in your area.
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