Counselling is a process, across a series of sessions, each normally of one hour, in which you and your counsellor establish a trusting relationship, which permits you to discuss your fears, concerns, anxieties or desires. The counsellor uses professionally trained capabilities to listen intently to you in order to understand your experience accurately, and to empathise with you, in a confidential, honest and non-judgemental way. The counsellor can often reflect back to you knowledge about yourself of which you may have been unaware, and can give you insights into your relationships with others. This can be powerful in giving you the self-knowledge you need to improve your life in the way you wish. The counsellor can enable you to work to solve your difficulties, in your own way, and at your own pace. You and your counsellor sit together in a private room offering confidentiality and a safe space for reflection and inspiration. Counselling is often called The Talking Therapyâ€, because most of the interaction is simply conversation between you. This gives you the opportunity to explore your thoughts and feelings. The way the counsellor works depends on his or her theoretical orientation. The counsellor is trained to be able to listen very accurately and to notice your body language and other non-verbal clues to what is going on for you. Often, the counsellor can tell you things about yourself that you haven’t realised before. This is not done by magic, or guesswork, but simply by noticing what is said and done in a way we rarely notice in ourselves.
