Is Counselling Working?

Is Counselling Working?

I was thinking about this the other day, reflecting on my progress with counselling but also as some of my clients are starting to graduate and we prepare for the end of their counselling journey.

My experience both professionally and personally, have taught me it is important to set goals for yourself and with your counsellor, this keeps you both accountable and provides direction. These goals are not written in stone and can change or be added to as you start to have more clarity on the direction in which you want to take counselling.

There will be moments of checking off the box in counselling with your goals, but a lot of the big moments, the growth that comes from embarking on this counselling journey, are a bit less box checking and more subtle. You may notice one day that a certain topic, issue, event, or even person, you feel lighter about. You will begin to feel lighter about yourself and your thoughts. That lightness will allow space in your life to grow and start adding to your foundation.

Counselling is not about making things go away, but about understanding why they are there, where they came from and you choosing how you want to use these things in your life going forward.

 Things to consider

• Have you set counselling goals, for you and your counsellor?

• Check in on these goals and share your reflections with your counsellor.

• Reflect on where you were 3, 6, 9 months ago and take note of your progress.

• If you are not progressing, ask yourself why? Talk to your counsellor.

• Reset your goals.

• Celebrate your progress, it took hard work from you to get here, so celebrate it, you deserve that.