We can all use a little outside help now and then, to navigate through some of life's challenges.
Counselling can help to make some sense of life. It can also help you to access your power to make your way through tough times. Having a person to talk with who is not a friend or family member can be useful in giving you a space to explore your thoughts and feelings fully without having to 'take care' of the listener's feelings or thoughts. An outside perspective, as well as a stance of acceptance and non-judgement are some of the gifts of the therapeutic relationship.
As a therapist, I am like a mirror who can reflect back to you what I see. Often when looking at things from a different perspective, we can see something new. We can discover things about ourselves that we didn’t realize were there, and we can learn to have compassion for ourselves. Therapeutic interventions are geared to promoting a sense of safety, encouraging emotional awareness and expression, developing emotional regulation, healthy coping, and developing a healthy connection with self, others, and the world. Effective therapy is experiential; during therapy, felt emotions are attended to in a compassionate way, and are given voice. This process supports wellness.
My approach often aims to help build an emotional vocabulary, develop confidence and self-compassion, and strengthen healthy coping strategies. Learning 'self-regulation' involves learning how to be witness to and care for your internal states, and understanding what it feels like to be calm and alert. Learning to recognize what activities help you to return to calm alertness most easily, as well as what pulls you out of that state is a key tool. Self-regulation is what makes self-control and healthy choice-making possible.
Counselling can heal the hurts from early experiences, and help a person be connected with their wise and compassionate self. This means being able to sit with uncomfortable feelings, and of connecting with those feelings while not being overwhelmed by them.
Counselling is not easy, though it should be a process that involves a supportive and safe relationship in which to feel heard, to develop new ways of seeing, and a space in which to practice being your authentic, vulnerable self. A counsellor can help you get through the tough times and celebrate the successes.
Different settings on offer for therapy appointments
In my practice, I offer a few different settings and modalities of practice.
1. I offer virtual therapy, which can be either in the form of a video platform or telephone.
2. Nature-based therapy can take the form of a walk-and-talk or meeting at a location outdoors
3. In-office therapy is available and can include art and expressive therapy or talk therapy.
Learn about Art Therapy in the post with that topic.
For information on Confidentiality and Informed Consent, click here.
How to find the right Therapist...
It’s important that you feel safe and listened to.
Be sure that the Counsellor that you choose has the proper accreditation. There are guidelines for ethical practice and these are structures that various associations help to enforce.
Beyond the therapist's training and association with a counselling association, the way you FEEL in relation to the therapist is extremely important. Sometimes you may get a sense right away if this is a good fit or not. Sometimes you might need to give it a few sessions to begin to feel that there is a space in which to feel safe and listened to, and to grow.
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