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 Do you feel frustrated that you are wasting your life with this "other half"? Then welcome to the world of discord. But don't lose heart. Because you are not the only one, there are a million around just like you. In today's world where many of us face strained relationships, counselling can do wonders. Friends and relatives provide a type of counselling, as do clergy, academic advisors, teachers and many others. Counsellors have a broad range of experience in developing "helping relationships" and working with many different situations. Counselling is a change (growth: healing) process in which people (individuals, groups, couples and families) are helped to: - Express themselves (catharsis) in a safe, supportive, collaborative, non-judgemental climate;
- Identify, sort-out, clarify their problem laden "stories" (deepened awareness of past & present story and alternative future stories);
- Identify non-helpful patterns (e.g. "crisis" pattern);
- Learn, where appropriate, more helpful coping skills (e.g. "assertive skills");
- Identify and achieve goals that are important to them.
For those with a humanistic bent, the ultimate goal for counselling is to help people to recognise and accept their own internal worth, i.e., to integrate their learned habits of thinking about themselves (their internal messages and images) and their learned behaviours (feelings, physical responses and actions) to be congruent with who they really are in their essence (beautiful, loving people).
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