The most common question that follows when I tell people I’m a counsellor is “ooh… what do you specialise in??”.
It’s a common misconception that counsellors train to work with a certain type of issue. For example, bereavement, domestic abuse, addiction etc. are all issues that counselling can help with.
What counselling training actually involves is specific approaches to counselling. Each approach can be used to help a number of issues, such as those listed above. Approaches to counselling might be Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (or CBT) which you might have heard of, or Person-Centred, which you might not have heard of.
There are many other approaches to therapy and many more opinions and studies on which might work ‘best’. However, the most important factor influencing the best outcomes from therapy is generally considered to be the relationship between the counsellor and client. No matter which therapy you choose, if you don’t feel a connection to your therapist, you probably won’t get the most out of it.
So how do you choose? Here are some things to consider when choosing a therapist:
- The ‘type’ of therapy is probably not too important, unless you feel strongly about what you want.
- The background and experience of the counsellor might be a good indicator for how much they know about your ‘issue’, if that’s important to you
- Don’t be afraid to try a couple of different counsellors before you choose; I promise that a good therapist won’t be offended!
- Always make sure the therapist you choose is registered with a governing body, such as BACP. This will ensure they are fully qualified and working ethically.
If you need more help, please give me a call for a no obligation chat about your needs. I’m waiting to help you.
Sally 😊