What does counselling achieve

The problem with focusing on others is that, unless the other person is in the counselling room, talking about what they should be doing is unlikely to lead to their making the changes you need them to make to address your issues. So even if the other person is contributing to your problems, focusing on how you can respond to that person will likely be the most effective strategy for relieving your distress.

In couples counselling, couples in which each partner considers things they can do differently to improve the relationship make the best progress. Couples in which one or both partners focus on what the other person should do differently are less likely to make progress.

However, the kind of talk they engage in is focused on taking action, learning skills and problem-solving to address their issues by working collaboratively with their therapists. This involves spending a lot of time verbalizing repeated negative thoughts about oneself, another person or the future with little or no focus on taking action to address the issues on which they are ruminating. Although it can be helpful to some degree to express your negative feelings to a supportive listener, particularly if you have not had the opportunity to express your feelings or struggle with doing so, repeatedly expressing the same negative feelings with no movement toward addressing the concerns underlying your feelings is unlikely to lead to lasting improvement and may only serve to make you feel worse.

Your expectations play a critical role in the amount of progress you will make in counselling. Unrealistic or overly negative expectations make it less likely progress will occur. Unfortunately, this unrealistic view of counselling which some clients likely garner from inaccurate television and movie portrayals detracts from making progress.

Having realistic and positive expectations regarding counselling leads to the best progress. This involves viewing progress in counselling as similar to progress in most other endeavours. That is, if you are prepared to work with your therapist to learn and apply skills, you are likely to see some progress early on in counselling and will likely see substantial progress over time if you continue to learn and apply these skills.

Clients who have these realistic and positive expectations are more likely to be motivated to do the work necessary to make progress and therefore tend to be more successful in addressing their issues. Clients who make the most progress in counseling are open to the strategy of approaching their issues in a specific manner. This involves working with their therapists to identify the individual elements contributing to their distress and then taking action to address these elements.

This specific approach typically leads to the best progress in addressing individual issues in which specific strategies like changing thinking and behaviour patterns are employed. Clients who work with their therapists using this specific approach to systematically address their issues tend to make the most progress.

Clients who make the most progress recognize that, in a graphic sense, improvement does not occur in a straight-line manner. They are accepting of the fact that, despite making progress in addressing their issues, they will sometimes experience bad days or unusually stressful situations in which they may struggle. All Rights Reserved.

Report an issue. What is counselling and how can it help? Find out how seeing a counsellor could help you. Written by spunout. Factsheet Fact checked by experts and reviewed by young people. What is a counsellor? How counselling works A counsellor is trained to listen sympathetically to your problems and suggest ways to resolve issues and change your behaviour. What is counselling like?

Some low-cost or free counselling services in Ireland include: Jigsaw , providing free counselling, confidential counselling to young people aged , with centres across Ireland Turn2Me. Counselling in primary care CIPC This service is for people with mild to moderate psychological difficulties. The service is suitable for people who are experiencing certain difficulties such as: Depression Anxiety Panic reactions Relationship problems Loss issues Stress Traveller Counselling Service If you are a young Traveller and would like to speak to a counsellor who specifically works with the Travelling Community, the Traveller Counselling Service can support you.

Landline: 01 Mobile: Email: [email protected] Feeling overwhelmed or want to talk to someone right now? Related articles. Getting Help. Quiz: How much do you know about trauma? Take this quiz to see if you can recognise what trauma is, where it comes from, and how it can impact you.

Learning to live with grief. The death of someone in your life is difficult, and it can take time to process your feelings. Mental health support for ethnic minorities in Ireland. Finding a mental health service where you can feel comfortable is important. Our work is supported by. Follow us. Chat provider LiveChat. It is important that you find a counsellor with the appropriate training and experience who suits you and your needs, and whom you feel comfortable with.

Not all counsellors have the same approach and you may need to try more than one counsellor to find one that best suits your needs. Some counsellors are covered under a Medicare rebate and you may get your session covered under Medicare or pay a small gap fee. To be entitled to a Medicare rebate you must get a mental health care plan from your doctor.

This means your doctor will assess, through a questionnaire and knowledge of you, whether you would benefit from mental health support. A mental health care plans provides you with up to 10 sessions of counselling per year with a Medicare rebate.

Medicare does not provide rebates for all counsellors. You need to ask the individual counsellor. You may be eligible for a partial rebate on your private health insurance, depending on your policy. Your first session will help you to decide whether this counsellor is the right one for you. Questions to ask yourself include:. It is reasonable to ask the counsellor at the end of the first session for an estimate of how many sessions they think you will need.

However, remember that this is only an estimate. Some problems can be successfully resolved in a few sessions. In other cases, talking about the particular problem with the counsellor may bring up deeper, unresolved issues that need further exploration. This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:. Acquired brain injuries and spinal cord injuries may have a significant effect on your intimate relationships, friendships, social networks, recreation and work activities.

The long-term effects of brain injury will be different for each person and can range from mild to profound. Admitted rehabilitation aims to provide care to maximise independence and quality of life for people with a disabling condition. Advance care plans can help the people close to you and those caring for you to know what is important to you about the level of healthcare and quality of life you would want.

Disability aids and equipment such as wheelchairs, walking frames and braces can help people with disabilities and the elderly gain more independence. Content on this website is provided for information purposes only. Information about a therapy, service, product or treatment does not in any way endorse or support such therapy, service, product or treatment and is not intended to replace advice from your doctor or other registered health professional.

The information and materials contained on this website are not intended to constitute a comprehensive guide concerning all aspects of the therapy, product or treatment described on the website. All users are urged to always seek advice from a registered health care professional for diagnosis and answers to their medical questions and to ascertain whether the particular therapy, service, product or treatment described on the website is suitable in their circumstances.

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