Although counselling has been around for decades, more than ever before, people are accessing this medical service. As the world is getting busier and people have fewer connections with one another – seeing a counsellor is one way for someone to connect. It also offers the opportunity to connect with someone who is impartial and can look at a situation as an outsider. This person is also professionally trained to offer their perspective and suggestions for change. The average registered counsellor holds a Masters Degree and has at least 6 years of post-secondary education. Most counsellors also specialize in different areas such as anxiety, depression, grief, couples counselling, addictions and career changes.
For me, as a practicing counsellor, what I find so intriguing and wonderful is how resilient people are in this changing world we live in. People come to me most often when there is a time of transition for them. Life can be unexpected and confusing for the young teenage girl trying to adjust to your cyber world, or a young mother after giving birth and dealing with the effects of postpartum depression. Life can also throw you a curve ball when out are unexpectedly laid off from a job, or when due to our changing electronic world your job becomes redundant and you need to find a new career. Sometimes tragedy strikes and life was not what you had planned and dreamed it to be. For this reason I look at counselling as a paramedical service that can help in times of change and transition. I came to be a counsellor from my own personal experience of transition and healing and I hope that for those of you that are on the fence about checking out what counselling is like, that you make the leap.
It can be a pretty scary place to be to walk into a room with a stranger and share your secret or your personal circumstances. Counsellors are trained to be empathic, to listen and to never judge. They are in the profession of helping people and they are sworn to confidentiality and everything said in the counselling room will always be held sacred and trusted. They are also able to offer resources and referrals in your community that you can access.
For me, the greatest joy that I get from being a counsellor is meeting wonderful people who just need someone to listen to them, and to be with them in their lives just for that one hour and be completely understood and seen in this busy world. When we talk and they open themselves up to me and allow themselves to be vulnerable, this is where the magic happens. In order to grow and develop, people who truly have the desire to experience change, who can be honest about themselves can heal from their brokenness.
“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”
― Brené Brown