Care and counselling
As you progress through the therapeutic process, you should begin to feel gradual relief from your distress, to develop self assurance, and have a greater ability to make decisions and increased comfort in your relationship with others. Therapy may be painful and uncomfortable at times but episodes of discomfort occur during the most successful therapy sessions. Mental health treatment should help you cope with your feelings more effectively.
Am I getting the care I need?
If you feel you are not getting results, it may be because the treatment you are receiving is not the one best suited to your specific needs. If you feel there are problems, discuss them with your therapist. A competent therapist will be eager to discuss your reactions to therapy and respond to your feeling about the process. If you are still dissatisfied, a consultation with another therapist may help you and your therapist evaluate your work together.
Can you tell me more about Counselling?
'Counselling and Psychotherapy are ways of responding to a wide range of human needs. Counselling and psychotherapy provide opportunities for those seeking help to work towards living in more satisfying and resourceful ways'
COSCA: Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland
www.cosca.org.uk
In deciding that you would like to access counselling for yourself it can be a difficult decision to make. It making this decision you are entering into a relationship which will afford you a period of non-judgmental listening when you will be heard by the counsellor who will journey with you as you attempt to unpack whatever issue or problem you feel you have to discuss. You should be able to talk freely and comfortably about problems without in any way feeling judged.
What you will receive in counselling are qualities which are often described as the 'Core Conditions' namely Acceptance, Genuineness and Empathy. These qualities are necessary to create a safe environment for you to talk about any problems you are finding hard to resolve.
- The counsellor, in providing Acceptance or Unconditional Positive Regard, provides an environment where your feelings, experiences and values are respected. You will not be judged or criticised because of your own attitudes or beliefs
- In being afforded genuineness the counsellor is demonstrating that they will be honest and open with you and will not present an outward appearance of one attitude while actually holding another
- Empathy is the ability to let the person know that you have truly heard what they are saying. It is not the same as sympathy as that is about feeling sorry for a person. You will experience the counselor as having really understood what you are putting across.
In deciding to go for counselling wherever that may be you may probably have a wait to see a particular counsellor. At the first meeting the counsellor will hear what you want from counselling and will talk about regularity of appointments and what he or she will expect from you. Normally you will be given one appointment per week and each session will last for one hour.
It is important for you to know that your counsellor will be bound by a Code of Practice and Ethics, normally by COSCA or The British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
Contacts
Use the contacts below for help or to find out more information. Alternatively, if you need someone to talk to about how you're feeling, call Breathing Space on 0800 83 85 87 between 6pm and 2am. Remember your call is confidential and free.
- Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland (COSCA) www.cosca.org.uk
- British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) www.bacp.co.uk
If you need help right now, visit the Immediate Help page.
