An Introduction To Counselling | Counselling Buckinghamshire

Introduction to Counselling – what is counselling?

Counselling is a conversation, in some ways an unusual conversation because the focus is on finding out about you and what has brought you?

Introduction to Counselling – how does it work?

Counselling and psychotherapy works because it is:

confidential – this is not like talking to friends or family
predictable and carefully managed – you know when your session is, how long it will last, and what it will cost
there are no obligations – if you find the work engaging then you may want to pursue it further

This is one relationship where you can know what is going on.

Why would an introduction to counselling be useful? To help you avoid the mistakes of the past

Understanding more about yourself may help you avoid the repetition of bad decisions.

It is not unusual for us to repeat patterns and pick relationships based on earlier parts of our lives.

There are often coincidences or similarities in the way our relationships go wrong in the present and the way things were for us in the past or in our early years.

When we find a partner has betrayed us life is rocked. How did this happen? What kind of person had I picked? How could I have put myself at risk like this? AND, how to I avoid making such a bad decision again? If we do not understand the origins of our decision making we are vulnerable to repeat the same mistakes.

We must always look forward, but we have to understand our history in order to not repeat the mistakes of the past. I have seen too many instances where people continue to pursue wrong courses of action because they do not take the time to think critically about what has happened in the past. Winston Churchill

Why would an introduction to counselling be useful?

to help you understand yourself – which means you can have more confidence
to help you develop understanding of how your mind and psychology evolved – which means you will know why certain things have worked out the way they have
to help you understand your feelings and emotions – which means you will be able to look after yourself better

Introduction to Counselling – do I have to like my counsellor?

Not necessarily. You will be able to identify things that you don’t like about the experience of coming to the counselling and talk about it.

Whereas in most, if not all relationships we may feel we have to conceal our thoughts and feelings about other people, in counselling we are free to reflect together upon the things we don’t like. We are free to like and dislike.

This freedom is the beginning of knowing more about yourself and of being able to make better decisions about what you want.

The benefit is that it will help you develop confidence in speaking your mind, it will help you develop a more confident and assertive side of yourself.

Of course if your style is to be dominant or overbearing to other people then counselling will provide an opportunity to reflect upon the way you relate to others and to modify that.

Introduction to Counselling – if you develop trust in your counsellor

Counselling is perhaps the only relationship in which you can develop the chance to start again.

The things that we are able to establish with our counsellor we can take out of the room to other relationships.

We can use the things we develop and like in counselling in other parts of our lives.

If you develop trust in your counselling work then you will start to feel safe. When we feel safe we start to relax a bit and let our guard down. We start to be able to speak about things that we may have had to conceal for ages, perhaps forever.

If we relax, we start to remember the old traumatic injuries that have been covered up. As we do so, the old injuries start to heal, our minds and spirits begin to repair. This means that new creative possibilities develop.

Introduction to Counselling – what will you get from knowing more about yourself?

Being clear about ourselves, who we are, it is a bit like developing your own personal compass.

An introduction to counselling will help you develop such understanding about yourself.

This means that you:

may start to live a more satisfying and creative life
have more satisfying and constructive relationships with partners, family and children
avoid repeating mistakes from the past
make better decisions

Introduction to Counselling – how can Counselling Buckinghamshire help?

At Counselling Buckinghamshire we have a depth of experience of working with people who are thinking about trying counselling.

We are highly trained at working with people who are trying counselling for the first time or who are returning to counselling after a difficult experience.

We help people to: