| Counselling Services |
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Counselling services are available for a wide variety of situations: school issues, credit problems, sexuality, marital problems and substance abuse being just the tip of the iceberg. However, this range of problems and the services designed to meet them, both by companies and individual counsellors, means that it can be dificult to find the right counsellor. Your first step should be to identify the type of counselling you require. This may seem obvious, but when you need counselling it can often be difficult to know just what it is that you need. After all, what you identify as your problem could just be a symptom of a deep rooted cause. Take credit problems as an example. Debt counselling will help initially, will lessen the weight of that problem, but through that counselling it may be discovered that the root cause is a need for material security, perhaps rooted in a troubled childhood or adolescence, and counseling will be needed for this to help avoid falling into debt again. Once you have identified the type of counselling you require, you now need to decide whether you will be most comfortable with someone in private practice or within a group therapy session. This is not always obvious - a gregarious person may well feel more comfortable in a private one-on-one counselling session than they would in a group therapy environment. It is of the utmost importance that you are comfortable with both the type of counselling you choose and with the counsellor you choose. It is only through being comfortable that you will achieve the level of trust needed to talk openly and freely with your counsellor about your problems, and it is only by being open that the counsellor can help you find a solution. One advantage of the group conselling option is that there may be many different counsellors available, each with different specialities - such as debt counselling, marriage counsellor, and others. Sometimes a group will offer only one type of counselling - e.g. psychotherapy or cognitive behavioural therapy - but offer the assistance of a number of counsellors in that field. Private practice counsellors will work out of their own office. The advantage with this type of counselling is that it can offer a more 'personal' touch in that you develop a relationship with a particular counsellor that is not always posible in the multiple office environment. The disadvantage with this method is that if you choose to change counsellors at some point you will need to begin your search again. Make a short list of potential counsellors, and then ask each about their credentials and qualifications. There are many bodies of accreditation for counsellors and many professional organisations to which they can belong. Also, a good and reputable counsellor will have a good standard of background education and will also still seek out further eduction and training on an ongoing basis. A good place to start your search for a counsellor would be the UKRC, or United Kingdom Register of Counsellors. This organisation has a strong Code of Ethics and Practice that accredited counsellors adhere to, and it ensures they remain accredited through one or more of several other organisations. To appear on the UKRC list a counsellor must have attained UKRC qualifications. The UKRC also offers a complaints procedure should issues arise at a later date. It is normal to look for a counselling service close to your home or workplace (although some individuals feel that the annonymity afforded by choosing a more distant counsellor helps them feel more comfortable - it is all a matter of personal choice). Whatever you choose it is vitally important that it is easy to see your counsellor, that way you cannot give yourself any excuses for skipping a session. Counselling, to be effective, must be regular and consistent. It is all to easy to skip a session ere or there, but in the long run this will not help you with your problems, and that is why you are seeing a counsellor! You now have your list of potential counselors, so ring them all up and ask about office hours, how long they have been in practice, what qualifications they have, what professional bodies they belong to, and about any other credentials they may have. You may find a counsellor who can prescribe medications, if needed; or they may refer you to your GP. Get to know these things now, so there are no surprises later. Do not give up on your search until you have found the counsellor or counselling service tat is right for you. This is far more important than building work, cleaning services or grocery shopping, so it is essetial that you do your research thoroughly. |
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