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eNEWSLETTER
December 2008

Our Mission Statement:
"Providing a range of innovative professional services, empowering our clients to positively address issues affecting their lives."

Seasons Greetings

Who would have thought the year could whiz by as fast as it has and as this will be the last issue of our Newsletter for 2008, we thought we would update our readers on the changes over the past year.

There have been a number of changes that have occurred over the past year, we sadly said goodbye to our long time receptionist Melanie who left to further her studies. This heralded the arrival of Kimberly, our new office receptionist. We also welcomed another member to the CCS family with the arrival of Joanne Yuen who is a valuable member to our team.

This year Clayfield Counselling services will be closed over the Festive Season as of the 21st December 2008 and we will be reopening our doors on Monday the 5th of January 2009.

In the New Year we will now be able to process Medicare Claims for GP Mental Health Care Plans on the spot and refund your benefits to your savings account. It has been a long time coming and we hope it will be a smooth transition in the upcoming year.

For the December issue of our newsletter we decided to focus on avoidance issues and how many people are unable to face the reality of their lives.
Avoidance Issues

Many people believe that if they steer clear of life’s challenges then they will be safe and won’t have to address the problems. There are many different ways to avoid any given situation that impact on individuals and their families.

Avoidance as Denial
Common Assumptions

This is what we tell ourselves and those around us; it is often a way of suppressing what your feeling through denying your true feelings. Such as:

Escaping the Present
Common Assumptions

Another way of avoiding what is happening in a person’s life is through focusing on the past or the future, as a way of ignoring what is happening in the present. A person who feels this way may say:

Hiding from Life
Common Assumptions

People who hide from life and situations that arise often are identified as “shy” as they often withdraw into themselves, like a turtle into their shell.

They often feel that if they express themselves in any way, they will be judged as lacking and will often feel inadequate in the eyes of other people. Therefore, they avoid situations by hiding from them and from life.

Business
Common Assumptions

I’m too busy, I’ve got too many things I have to organise. This is a common avoidance tactic. Many people often try to fill there time with things to do in order to avoid what is happening in their life.

For instance you may not like ironing but rather than facing whatever’s on your mind you’ll make an excuse such as the ironing needs to done, just to avoid issues affecting your life.

Lack of Communication
Common Assumptions

People who lack the ability to communicate often have an intense fear of how the other person will react. These people keep a tight rein on their emotions and generally have feelings of inadequacy. Such as:

If I tell someone I love how I am really feeling, they won’t love me anymore; it’s easier to say nothing.

We often fear saying how we feel to our partner or to our boss because of their reaction and the possibility of losing their love and respect.

Useful References

 

Until next time then...

“We avoid the things that we're afraid of because we think there will be dire consequences if we confront them. But the truly dire consequences in our lives come from avoiding things that we need to learn about or discover. ” - Shakti Gawain

 

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