The most commonly known counselling format is a series of weekly 50 – or 60 min long sessions. However, some counsellors offer fortnightly, monthly or one-off sessions too. You can ask for one session, a few sessions or ongoing counselling. Some counselling modalities, such as walking or couples therapy, may require longer, 1.5 hrs long sessions. Group therapy can also consist of longer sessions.
A trained counsellor will offer a specific approach to counselling. There is a wide range of counselling modalities and ways of working: talking, walking, movement (dance, drama), non-verbal (art, object therapies) and many more.
A trained professional provides counselling, so when you book a counselling session, you should check the counsellor’s professional qualifications, the amount and type of training they have received, and their professional accreditations. On average, a counsellor should have completed a year of a counselling certificate course, two years of a diploma at least, with additional MA courses and relevant CPD courses added to their portfolio. A counsellor can only offer the types of therapy they are trained for.
As we open our counselling practice this month, we invite you to explore what counselling is.
What is counselling? Oxford Dictionaries define counselling as “the provision of professional assistance and guidance in resolving personal or psychological problems”.
Q: What is your resilience, and what would you expect and need from the environment and collective to safely grow, heal, and move through trauma?
Q: Where would you like to move from here? If I have a direction in mind, how can I get there with what I have available and what support do I also need on the journey?
Q: Have you experienced positive growth in your sense of spirituality after traumatic experiences?
Q: Can you think of that sense of solidity, inner strength or maybe even lightness in how you approach new challenges learning from past adversity in your life?
Q: Have you experienced new discoveries, new paths, and new ways of healing when dealing with challenges and traumas of life?
Q: Have you experienced improvement in your relationships, in how you relate to people around you when managing recovery from traumatic experiences or even just reflecting on those?