Our brain is a very complex part of the human body consisting of approximately 100 billion neurons. Our emotions, feelings and behavioral responses are an outcome of the brain. Due to various reasons like traumatic experience, long term effect of stress etc. a person might undergo Mental Illness. There are various treatments that are available ranging from Medications, Mental Health Support, Counselling etc. In this blog we will be going in depth about Counselling.
Definition
According to the National Health Service, Counselling has been defined as, “ A talking therapy that involves a trained therapist listening to you and helping you find ways to deal with emotional issues.”
Counselling focuses on the natural stresses and problems in life and can play a massive role in combating those problems.
THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF COUNSELLING SOME OF WHICH ARE DISCUSSED BELOW:
COGNITIVE ANALYTICAL THERAPY - During CAT, the counsellor seeks to understand emotions, feelings and actions of the client as well as the past events that led to the problems he / she is facing. As an outcome of the in-depth analysis, the therapist explores various ways to help client cope with the problems
CREATIVE THERAPIES - Creative Therapies include usage of techniques that are expressive and creative in nature. This therapy is generally employed when the patient cannot participate in the Talk Therapies. Some of the approaches include art therapy, writing, sand play, clay, movement therapy, psychodrama, role play, and music therapy.
FAMILY THERAPY - Family Therapy can help improve family communication and resolve any conflicts in the family.
DIALECTICAL BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY - Through DBT , the counsellors teach their clients how to live in the present, regulate their emotions, how to handle stress in a healthy manner and build stronger relations. They use various strategies like Core Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation during the therapy.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY - CBT is a talking therapy which involves breaking thoughts into smaller fragments to analyse the problem and defining practices to get rid of unhelpful and unrealistic thoughts. According to the NHS, “Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave.” Unlike most other therapies, it focuses on the present time rather than past or future.
HOW CAN COUNSELLING BE HELPFUL?
The counsellors can help you gain a better understanding of the problems you are facing.
He / She can support you to face the challenges in your life in a healthy manner as you eventually emerge as a stronger person
He / She can help you change your habits that alleviate you mental health problems
He / She can help you in letting go of things that happened in the past that triggered your mental health problem and can pave the way for a brighter future ahead.
By expressing yourself to someone who knows how to comprehend your feelings, might help you ameliorate your current situation
LET’S CLARIFY CERTAIN MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT COUNSELLING
Counselling is only for people who have serious mental illness- You shouldn’t wait for the situation to worsen before you decide to seek help. One should get treatment right from the beginning when the symptoms start appearing. It can save you from the situation when things start getting overwhelming and out of your control. One may seek expert advice whenever they feel a need.
Counselling is a mere discussion between two people- Counselling is a process which uses techniques derived after extensive research to help people in mental illness identify the sources of their problems and cope with the situation.
Weak people go for counselling- Accepting your illness and seeking help from experts is an act of bravery. It takes immense courage to accept the illness and ask for help. Therefore taking counselling is an act of bravery not weakness.
Friends and Family Members should counsel each other- Friends and Family Members do not possess skills required to do counselling. counsellors are experts who are equipped with the necessary skills and training required to help people battling mental illness and hence one should seek counselling from experts.
A counsellor will point out the problems you are facing and tell you how to solve it- Counselling is a gradual process which includes a combined effort from the counsellor and client to analyze his / her concerns and figure out a solution that suits best for him/ her.
Everyone would know about my situation if I go for counselling- In counselling, confidentiality of the counselee is given utmost importance. No information or details discussed during therapy are revealed to anyone. Clients can express themselves during the therapy without any fear.
PROCESS OF COUNSELLING
Harold L. Hackney & Sherry Cormier gave the 5 steps of counselling that every counsellor and counselee have to go through-
Stage 1:
Relationship Building - This is the first step of Counselling. In the step the focus is to build a rapport between the counsellor and counselee. At this stage, the client observes the verbal and non- verbal communication of theu and a trust is built between them. Carl Rogers was among the pioneers who realized the importance of building relationship between the counsellor and client. According to him Empathy, Genuineness and Unconditional Caring are the three important pillars on which a strong counsellor- counselee relationship is built.
Stage 2:
Problem assessment - The next stage is Problem Assessment. At this stage, the focus is understanding the client and the causes behind his / her problems. counsellor’s efforts are directed towards drawing information about the client and connecting the dots to comprehend the root cause behind the concern of the client. Assessment begins at a very early stage in the counselling process and continues throughout. It is a very crucial step in understanding the problem of the client. Hackney and Cormier have given various parameters on which a client is assessed. They include: Personal Information, Family History, Personal History, Client’s Current Lifestyle, Problems Presented, Description of the client during interview, Recommendations
Stage 3:
Goal setting - As Tony Robbins has rightly stated, “ Setting goals is the first step in turning invisible into visible.” Setting Goals serves as a Road Map to the end destination we desire to reach.
This is a very essential stage in counselling. By setting goals, the counsellor and counselee have a clear vision of what they are working for and what can be expected out of the Counselling process. During this stage, different alternative solutions are examined and a mutually agreed path is chosen to solve the problem of the client.
Stage 4:
Interventions - There are different techniques that counsellors practice to resolve the issue of their client. This stage revolves around choosing an apt strategy or technique for counselling which suits the client’s personality, nature and feasibility. If the chosen strategy does not work well, then the counsellor steps back to understand the problem again and employs another technique. Hence this is a cyclical process.
Stage 5:
Termination and follow-up - This stage marks the end of the counsellor- client relationship. The counsellor must ensure that the termination is a smooth process and prepare the counselee beforehand for this termination. He must solve all the unresolved issues of the client, provide a follow-up plan and instill a feeling of confidence in the client that he/ she can tackle any difficulty on his/ her own.
CORE CONDITIONS OF COUNSELLING
TRUST - Building Trust between the counsellor and client is vital for counselling to take place smoothly. If a trust is established between the two, the client will be comfortable with sharing his feelings and problems without any hesitation. However, if there is a lack of trust between the two, the client will never be open about his feelings and all the efforts of the counsellor will go in vain.
GENUINENESS - The client sees the counsellor as a professional who is genuinely working towards resolving his/ her problems. This feeling builds a stronger bond between the two and ensures a smooth counselling process.
RESPECT FOR THE CLIENT IN COUNSELLING - The counsellor respects his client without any conditions and accepts him/her for what he/she is. The client is respected and valued as a unique and important person. This attitude multiplies the possibility of positive transformation in the client.
EMPATHY - The counsellor empathizes with the client and understands the feelings that client has gone through. This again strengthens the trust between the counsellor and client
ACCEPTANCE - The counsellor accepts the client and respects him without any judgements or conditions.
CONCLUSION
Counselling has proven to be very helpful and at times a life saviour for many. Seeking help from Experts like professional counsellors at the right time can help you combat the mental illness at a very early stage and live a healthy life that everyone deserves.
We generally oversee emotional well being due to lack of awareness and stigma associated with mental illness. However, this ignorance can take a toll on our happiness. It’s high time now to understand the importance of emotional well being.
At Lifelores, the experts use various counselling techniques and recreational therapies to help you combat the problems and lead a happier life. We offer counselling for stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, loss, relationship, work-life, career, anger management, self improvement, mid-life crisis, teenage, child and parent counseling or any other mental health related problems or illness. We understand it can be daunting to express the day to day struggles with others. But don't worry, at Lifelore we listen.