FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who benefits from counselling?

• People who experience anxiety, depression, are in conflicted relationships (eg. as a couple, with parents and children, with extended family), face life-changing transitions (such as loss of job, loved one, divorce, marriage and re-coupling, birth of child or adoption) or feel stuck in any domain of their life (sometimes as related to earlier adversarial or traumatic experiences).

Who may not benefit from counselling?

• Anybody may benefit from skilled counseling, however, certain types of counseling may be detrimental, such as working with a suicidal client in isolation (away from resources which may be life-saving), working with a couple where there is danger of escalating violence after a session, presenting a client with the trauma protocol of EMDR (see Newsletter) before they feel safe or ready to do so or suggesting to a client that they suffer from a certain problem when it is not backed by the client's experiences or memory.

• Please ask as many questions of your counsellor and get informed (see Links).

What can I expect from counselling?

• Respect, safety, confidentiality (some exceptions apply such as the potential to do harm to oneself, another or the possibility of harm done to a child), a collaborative approach where conversations are guided by your goals and a balance between listening to, being witnessed and supported, and gently exploring change and the possibilities of getting unstuck.

• Occasional review of goals, keeping track and focus on your needs.

• Accountability from the counsellor towards you such as punctuality, professionalism, transparency and operating within a tight code of ethics (such as the code of ethics established by the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors). Some accountability from your side applies as well.

How will I know that counselling is working?

• When you are able to make changes outside of the therapy room; initially, they may seem small, and eventually, will be more noticeable by you and your close others.

• When you feel less overwhelmed, confused, angry or at the mercy of other feelings and you are looking forward rather than into the past.

• When you and your relationships become more in line with your preferred view of them.

• This is the time to discuss the end of the therapeutic relationship with your counsellor.