Unlike animals, the thinking process of humans does not entirely rely on instincts. FACT For this reason, the way you think as a human being is bound to trigger how you feel as well as what you do ( behaviour).

Anciently, psychological issues provoked fear and they were also approached with unnecessarily invasive treatments. However, with the emergence and advancement of science and technology, this is not the case today. As a result, you get to enjoy and benefit from therapies like counseling, which help you to overcome daily living problems.

WHAT IS COUNSELLING? Counseling is under the talking therapies umbrella. It allows you to talk about your problems as well as any negative emotions in a confidential and safe environment.

Therefore, counseling is a process that you can seek after when you feel that you need to change something about your life. You can seek this process when you want to explore your feelings and thoughts in more depth.

During counseling session, the counselor actively listens to you. This gives you a room to empty yourself in order to uncover the causes of the issues you are going through. The counselor also listens to you in order to identify your way of thinking.

Together with your counselor, you‘re able to come up with a treatment plan to assist you find effective ways for you to cope or help you regain perspective and reframe your experience.

This is because every session is tailored to suit the needs of every individual. With this in mind, you will find various counseling formats including;

Group or individual counseling Joining a group is recommendable when you want to gain a support network from people going through similar issues as you are. Otherwise, in case you are concerned about your privacy and would love to concentrate on your feelings, you can opt to have individual counseling sessions.

Face to face counseling This form of counseling takes place when you book an appointment with a counselor and meet them in person. In most cases, this happens at their practice. This type of therapy  is the most popular because it gives you an opportunity to interact with the counselor on a one-on-one basis. The counselor attends to your needs there and then.

Telephone counseling Telephone counseling is another form of counseling that gives you an alternative to face to face sessions. It is one of the best forms for busy individuals. Additionally, you can carry out such counseling sessions from the comfort of your home. With this counseling format, you get to minimize the waiting list time and allows you more flexibility.

Online counseling If you feel that you cannot interact physically with a counselor, you can go for the online counseling sessions. This mostly happens when people have tight schedules and cannot compromise missing the sessions. With this form of counseling, you can take your time to think through what you need to discuss.

As a matter of fact, you can physically write on your journal and talk them out with the counselor. Moreover, this form of counseling allows you to protect your anonymity. What type of therapy do you feel would work for you? Talk to a counsellor to educate  you on pro and cons of the above mentioned therapies.

How counseling helps to overcome daily living problems. Counseling can help individuals, adolescents, couples, families and even groups. Additionally, it can be helpful to anyone who is experiencing an issue they want to resolve.

You can, therefore, go for counseling if you feel that you cannot speak to your family, spouse or friends. In addition, you can choose to speak to a counselor when you or your loved one is in need of professional help. Remember counselling is not advice giving.

Here are some of the issues that you can seek counseling for;

Bereavement.

Everyone experiences a hard time whenever they lose a loved one. You can, experience a wide range of emotions among them anger and guilt. Speaking to a counselor can greatly help to ease the process as well as resolve any remaining issues.

Illness

Long-term illnesses can turn your life upside down. Counseling can assist you to come in terms with your condition by giving you emotional support as well as coping mechanisms.

Addictions

When you are addicted to an activity or a substance, it is likely that it has interfered with brain chemicals, processes or rather a psychological health .Counseling helps you to alleviate the psychological challenges by exploring the cause. Actually, counseling helps you to develop new thinking ways, gain insight and understand how drugs have affected your life.

Bullying

You can get issues that can potentially affect your whole life in case you are a victim of any abuse form. This can be physical, verbal or emotional abuse. Counseling can help you get help from the authorities in order for you to deal with the psychological repercussions of this impact in a safe environment.

Trauma

You can have a psychological trauma impact that can last years after being a victim of abuse or after involvement in an accident. During counseling, you’re allowed to explore your thoughts and feelings with respect to the incident and seek healthy ways to cope.

Mental health

In most cases, you feel isolated when suffering from mental illness like depression or schizophrenia. Counseling is the process that seeks to navigate through those feelings that come from such conditions. It also helps you overcome personal frustrations and challenges that come from the mental health issue.

 Relationships Counseling helps to discuss issues present in any type of relationship. This can be issues within couples, families, and friendships.  

Others Low esteem, anxiety, and stress are all feelings that people are experiencing a lot in the modern world.  You can seek counseling if you are dealing with any of them.This will give you space to learn about your thoughts, feelings, values, strengths, and areas to work on.

Below  are different counseling approaches that are available for you. The approach used depends on your counselor, theoretical orientation, and the issues you are going through. Your counselor will probably choose an appropriate approach that can work best for you.

Here are some of the therapy types that you can find during counseling.

Art therapy

This involves the use of artistic methods to convey your inner feelings. It can be in form of a simple drawing, painting or sculpture. This therapy aims at examining the art pieces and interpreting their meaning.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

CBT combines behavioral and cognitive therapy. This greatly helps to tackle your thinking process and your resultant behavior. As a matter of fact, this approach helps to break down huge problems into small manageable issues.

How you think determines how you feel and how you behave. Therefore, this therapy takes you to where your issues began- your thoughts. This approach addresses skewed/ irrational thinking patterns that might be occurring.

After addressing that, the therapy replaces them with positive and healthier thought patterns. It is, therefore, more useful to you if you have specific issues because it addresses every emotion separately.

Humanistic therapies

This is an approach that focuses on human potential, free will, and creativity. It encourages self-exploration, with numerous varieties shedding light on the present.

Gestalt therapy, Human Givens therapy, and person-centered therapy are among those that fall under this approach.

However, the approach has lately been being applied for anxiety and depression cases. It requires you to recall distressing feelings and events as you follow the counselor’s moving finger. The approach aims at reducing the intensity of your memories with time.

Psychoanalysis

This is one of the most ancient therapies that have been used in psychology. It was invented by Freud and aims at seeing your thoughts as something beyond your conscious control.

The approach believes that psychological issues develop from childhood experiences. Therefore, it helps you to address those hidden memories in order to resolve your current problems.

Mindfulness  Helps to heal by use of breathing techniques and to focus on the present moment, this type of therapy is useful with anxiety etc.

How counseling helps

How effective counseling is depends on the person receiving the treatment.It offers you a confidential and safe environment that facilitates the process of healing.

What you say to others can have a potential knock-off effect, change how people view each other and can also alter relationships. Counseling alleviates these problems and gives you both freedom and space to explore your thoughts, with a party that is unbiased.

Counseling helps you to uncover your own understanding and insight of issues you are going through. This, as a result, gives you the necessary tools that you use to resolve the issues on your own. In many cases, counseling is a journey that requires time, in order to work.

Therefore, you cannot expect that your first session will be enough to solve all the issues you are going through. Hence, to make the most out of this process, you will need to subscribe for regular sessions.

About the Author,

Samuel Mburu Accredited Counsellor.