What is counselling?

A seemingly straightforward question, but if you have searched for one ‘definitive’ explanation you will have discovered there isn’t one. What there are, are many many ways of describing counselling and all answering the question from a different angle/focus. Each answer offers a possibility of what counselling could become for you.

For some, counselling is space in their lives where they can talk more freely about things they wouldn’t ordinarily talk about; for some it is a chance to speak to a person trained in knowledge and understanding of what they are sharing; for some it is time in their lives to offload what they’ve been carrying around inside for a week, months or years; for some it is a place in their lives to gain more clarity/different perspective of what they are experiencing and going through, with the support and presence of a trained professional.

Figuring out what counselling is and what it means for you, is part of the counselling experience. Maybe it will be all of the above, maybe some of them or something else. In time, counselling can become personal and unique for you and you will be able to answer this question in your own words.