Is Therapy Just For The Ill?

Many people believe you have to have a medical or emotional reason to go into counselling; that there must be something wrong with you that needs to be 'fixed'.

It's true that a lot of people who see me have depression, anxiety or another emotional/mental illness which is blighting their life.  But there are also a lot of people who will simply want the support and guidance of a trained therapist who will listen, explore and not judge. Plus all of this being within a completeley confidential arena.  (I'll be writing a little more on confidentiality soon).

We are sometimes too attached to family or loved ones to be able to sit down and discuss certain issues.  They will obviously have an agenda based on the relationship they have with you.  That's normal, perfectly fine.  But what do you do if you need to discuss a very important issue without emotion getting in the way?

I've had people come to see me for a host of issues which you wouldn't ordinarily be classed as an illness and a few examples are below.

• Should I change from my current job to another?
• I'm due to have an operation and I'm not sure if I should proceed or not.
• Bereavement (of course there may be some stress or depression involved here)
• I'm feeling generally out of sorts and would like to talk to someone.
• I'm being bullied at work (or school) and would like some help in dealing with it.
• I'd like to become more assertive.
• My (our) relationship is a little on the rocks, can you help?
• I've started a new job and want to develop my inter-personal skills to help me succeed.

The fact is, you don't have to be suffering one of a myriad of problems you might initially take to your GP in order to access counselling.  You may be feeling 'out of sorts' in life and don't know why and would appreciate a professional eye/ear on the matter.

You might be new to an area and feel you need to have some point of reference to help you build your confidence a little.  Or you may just have an issue which is going around and around in your head but you can't make sense of it.  Of course, you may not have anyone else to talk to - isolation problems etc.

On top of these situations, there are people who are looking to better themselves in lives and need a helping hand choosing the right direction. It might be a career decision, for example, and your prospective boss might not be the best one to chew over the cud with.

Sometimes us humans just need to offload and by doing so at a certain point in time means you may be averting a deeper crisis further down the line.

So, you don't have to be 'ill' to come into counselling, you just might want to talk.

One final point, you don't have to pay the earth to access counselling. For some of the issues I mentioned above, the number of sessions average around 5 and if need be these can be attended fortnightly with work to do in between.  I often provide email support between one session and the neck, so a lot of people see it as a good investment.

If you are interested, or a little unsure of whether your issue could be helped in counselling, just drop me a line and I'll get back to you - normally within 24 hours.

Thanks for reading.