eNEWSLETTER
February 2004
Our Mission Statement:
"Providing a range of innovative professional services, empowering our clients to positively address issues affecting their lives."
Welcome to Clayfield Counselling Services February eNewsletter!
The Role of Counselling
Well, the New Year is now well and truly on a roll and it's February already! We hope you had a good start to the New Year and that this newsletter finds everyone happy and healthy.
As health professionals we are often forced to take a look at ourselves and our practices and we are constantly being assessed, both professionally and by our clients. So, in this light, we thought we would look at the issue of counselling and it's effects, either negative or positive, for the February edition of our newsletter.
Why do people seek counselling?
People seek counselling for a variety of different reasons. Today, many people experience challenges that are extremely difficult, and at times may appear impossible to overcome. Nowadays the great majority of people want quick fixes, both for personal and professional issues (i.e. problems with relationships, tension in the home, or stress at work). While it's natural for us to turn to people we trust and know to discuss our concerns, sometimes it's good to talk to someone who doesn't share the emotional attachment and can offer an objective point of view.
Quick fixes are band-aid treatments and do not get to the core of the issue. On the other hand a professional counsellor has the training and skills to help process the issue. To help you through difficult times, and empower you to implement positive changes in your life, whilst maintaining confidentiality.
How do you distinguish good advice from bad?
Doctors diagnose your physical problems and prescribe a particular treatment whereas counsellors have to tackle social and personal problems that are on a different scale of complexity.
Michael Clanchy and Dr Chris Trotter state in their article in the Courier Mail (May 28 th, 1999) "that good advisers use active listening and judicious questioning to get you to do the bulk of the work. In essence they do three basic things:
- Assist you to explore the exact nature of your problem.
- Assist you to assess all your options.
- Assist you to choose the solution that best suits you and your situation."
On the flip side, kitchen table advice is only a very short-term panacea that makes the giver feel good about being helpful and often misses the hidden issue.
Can counselling make the problem worse?
While counselling is normally seen as a very useful tool in helping people to cope and deal with various issues, can it actually make things worse?
Professor Simon Wessely of King's College, London thinks it might possibly do so. His views are backed by research suggesting that humans are surprisingly resilient in the face of tragedy, a good example is the tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001 where people came together to support each other. Talking about problems is better than not talking about them at all. He believes talking to "informal counselling networks" such as family and friends could be far more therapeutic and suggests that formal counselling be directed at seriously affected people rather than being applied automatically to all persons touched by the tragedy. He also states that talking to strangers might "actually impede the process of recovery that use your own social networks, such as family, friends, priest or doctor" (Courier Mail, 2004).
In the end, it is up to the individual to decide what process works best for them. Most people will probably automatically turn to people they trust first and then decide to try a professional if the problem still exists.
Some interesting websites
- http://rainbow.alphalink.com.au/Why%20counselling.html
- http://www.mpd.apu.ac.uk/public/MediaProduction-OUT/SCounServ/BugMnoscript.html
- http://www.likemindstaranaki.org.nz/councelor_guide/who.html
- http://www.whe.org.au/individuals/resources/kitdepression5.html
- http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/PI/search.jhtml?key=%22Simon%20Wessely%22
Need a qualified professional counsellor?
Office hours are from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. After hours and Saturday appointments are available on request.
Until next time then...
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
The editorial team at Clayfield Counselling Services