About Counselling
What is counselling?
'The British association for counselling and psychotherapy definition of counselling is:-
People become engaged in counselling when a person occupying regularly or temporarily the role of counsellor offers or agrees to explicitly offer time,attention,and respect to another person temporarily in the role of client. The task of counselling is to give the client an opportunity to explore,discover and clarify ways of living more resourcefully and towards greater well being.'
What happens during counselling?
Counselling/Psycotherapy takes place when a counsellor sees a client in a private and confidential setting to look at a difficulty the client is having,distress they may be experiencing or perhaps their dissatisfaction with life,or loss of a sense of direction and purpose.It is always at the request of the client.Counselling is a way of enabling choice or change or of reducing confusion.It does not involve giving advice or directing a client to take a particular course of action. Therapists do not judge or exploit their clients in any way.
What might be the benefit of attending counselling?
In the counselling sessions the client can look at and take stock of various aspects of their life and express feelings,talking about them freely and openly in a way that is rarely possible with friends and family.Bottled up feelings such as anger,anxiety,grief and embarrassment can become very intense and therapy offers an opportunity to explore them with the possibility of making them easier to understand.
Values of counselling and psychotherapy.
The fundamental values of counselling and psychotherapy include a commitment to:-
Respect human rights and dignity
Ensuring the integrity of practitioner-client relationships
Enhancing the quality of professional knowledge and its application
Alleviating personal distress and suffering
Fostering a sense of self that is meaningful to the person[s[ concerned
Increasing personal effectiveness
Enhancing the quality of relationships between people
Appreciating the variety of human experiences and culture
Striving for the fair and adequate provision of counselling and psychotherapy services.
These are the values set out by BACP which I pledge to use as my own values in working.
