How counselling can help you

Counselling is a highly effective method of tackling our own individual challenges. Its benefits are well documented and it is among the most tested and validated of health interventions.

Here are some of the ways in which you might benefit:

Counselling can help give you the support you need to:

Counselling gives you support

Perhaps you are going through a life crisis or suffering from depression and anxiety. Or you could be trying to adapt to new circumstances after experiencing a bereavement, divorce or redundancy. Whatever the issue for you, knowing that there is someone there to listen to and understand you, can bring great relief and help you cope better than you might do on your own.

Express your feelings and thoughts

Trying to put a brave face on things? Trying to keep a stiff upper lip for the sake of other people? Being able to tell a counsellor exactly how you feel and what you’re thinking is very therapeutic. Counsellors should not judge you, or try to “fix” you, or attempt to change your thoughts and feelings. We give you the space and time to talk and think, helping you feel less weighed down by life.

Gain insight and understanding

Exploring your thoughts, feelings and the origin of your difficulties helps you develop insight and understanding about yourself, your relationships and your life events. Counselling helps you gain a new perspective and make previously unseen connections. Armed with vital insights, your life can start making more sense again.

Learn new skills and strategies

Counselling can help you learn and practice new skills and strategies. For example, you could learn how to behave more assertively or communicate more effectively. Or you might learn how to soothe yourself when you feel overwhelmed and learn practical ways to manage your stress levels. These are some of the skills which you will need your whole life long.

Reduce or eliminate troubling symptoms

When you’re feeling low, you may experience a number of troubling symptoms such as difficulties sleeping, poor appetite, tearfulness or feeling generally hopeless. Similarly, if you are feeling anxious or stressed, you may find your thoughts racing or feel huge tension in your body or be easily irritated. Counselling can reduce or eliminate these types of symptoms and improve your ability to function in your everyday life.

Improve your health and well-being

The mind-body connection is well established. Counselling can improve your physical health or help you cope with long-term health conditions such as diabetes or cancer. It can also improve your overall sense of well-being. For you, this might mean feeling happier or more content, more relaxed or at ease with yourself, or it might mean feeling more hopeful or optimistic about the future.

Enjoy more satisfying personal relationships

Relationships are an extremely important part of our lives, whether they are with our partners, family and friends or work colleagues. Problems in your relationships can cause a lot of pain and heartache.  Sometimes, we may find ourselves isolated and lonely but not know how to go about becoming more connected to other people. Understanding how you relate to others and what you can do to improve this area of your life is an essential skill that you can learn through professional counselling.

Gain greater self-esteem and self-acceptance

Too often we think more highly of others than we do of ourselves. Alternatively, we can often compare ourselves negatively with others. Sometimes we may even hate ourselves, feel ashamed or suffer from excessive guilt. Liking, accepting and respecting ourselves, exactly as we are, can make life a whole lot easier. Counselling can also enable you to treat yourself with more care and compassion.

Resolve troubling issues from the past

Events that happened during our childhood, guilt about things we may have done or failed to do in the past or the trauma of abuse by other people can cast a long shadow over our lives. Making peace with your past, and completing unfinished business, can free you to have a more satisfying and fulfilling life, now and in the future.

Empower you to make changes

Change takes time and can feel risky, even scary. Sometimes, it’s one step forward and two steps back. Having the support of a counsellor can enable you to decide what you want to change and plan what you need to do to achieve your desired goals and dreams. Counselling can also give you the support you need to clarify any ambivalence you may have about changing your life or help you maintain momentum once you have made a start.

Discover clearer purpose and direction in life

Life can be confusing. Sometimes it can even feel meaningless. It’s not unusual to feel that you have no clear direction or purpose. Discussing these fundamental issues with a counsellor can help you to gain a clear understanding of your values, your life purpose and what life means to you.

Improve your capacity to think and make decisions

When we are depressed or anxious, it can be difficult to think clearly or decide what we want. Counselling can help you think in a clearer and more constructive way. It can give you the support you need to think more flexibly rather than in a black and white way and help you to think creatively to find solutions to your issues, and move ahead with your life.

Increase your creativity and productivity

When we are feeling out of sorts, it can be difficult to achieve all that we would like to in our work, academic or personal lives. It may be difficult to concentrate or to organise our workloads. Counselling can help you to feel more relaxed and restore your confidence and ability to manage. It can also help you to unlock your inherent potential, allowing you to succeed and achieve more of what matters to you.

Working in Central Glasgow, my counselling services are within easy travelling distance of towns such as Coatbridge, Bellshill, Motherwell, Cumbernauld, Wishaw, Hamilton, East Kilbride, Falkirk, Stirling, Greenock, Clydebank, Dumbarton, Paisley, Ayr, Renfrew, Kirkintilloch, Bishopbriggs, Bearsden and Milngavie.

Contact Neil:

To arrange a FREE 15 minute telephone consultation or to book your first appointment, please call Neil on:
07970 860 711

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