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10 common myths about counselling… |
| Posted on Nov 01 2011 |
| Articles >> Articles |
10 common myths about counselling…
1. It will take years to get better…
Or…
2. It will only take a couple of sessions for me to be cured!
Like anything else in life, no two people are the same. In counselling, each person and each issue is different. You may have lived with your condition for a long time, and the causes may be deep-rooted. It may be necessary to explore your issues over time, and brief therapy may not be appropriate for your situation. However, this may mean weeks, or a few months in therapy, not years.
The question should be, what is your mental health worth to you? How much do you want to change and what are you prepared to do to achieve your goal? Any good therapist will endeavour to help you to achieve your goal as soon as possible, but will want you to leave therapy feeling that you have achieved what you set out to achieve.
There will always be a need for you to apply what you have learned after the sessions have ended
and therapy requires work on your part and should not be thought of as a quick fix.
Most importantly of all, a good therapist will work collaboratively with you to help you to achieve as much as possible within a given timeframe.
3. I’ve been diagnosed with a mental health condition so only medication can make me better.
Not so! Counselling has been shown to be highly effective (and cost effective) when compared with medication, and even when medication is prescribed it is still necessary for the patient to learn new behaviours and coping strategies for change to take place after the medication is stopped.
4. It will go on my medical record that I’ve seen a counsellor.
This is only true if you are referred through your GP or other medical professional. When you see a private practitioner, all your details are kept confidential (in accordance with the Date Protection Act). The only time a private therapist would discuss you with your GP, for example, is if they feel that you are a danger to yourself or if you disclose information about harm to others.
5. It’s only for really sick people.
Feelings of low mood, anxiety, grief and loss affect most us at some point in our lives! Counselling offers a perspective like no other and provides new strategies for coping and resolving those feelings. It’s a resource available for anyone who feels they need some help, with any issue, no matter how small or large. If it’s important to you, it’s important to me to help you with it.
6. They can’t tell me anything I don’t already know.
Maybe, maybe not. What a counsellor can do is to help you to explore patterns of behaviour you may be unaware of, to challenge long-held beliefs to check that they are accurate and helpful, and to introduce different ways of thinking about your problem.
7. The therapist will tell me what to do.
No good counsellor is going to insist you do anything or tell you how to do something. A good counsellor will challenge, sometimes make recommendations, and set you goals and tasks, but it’s up to you if you choose to do them. At all times your autonomy will be respected. Counselling is about you being responsible for your own change.
8. It’s expensive.
There is no denying that spending money on counselling these days is money many people feel they cannot easily afford. However, with long waiting lists for accessing free counselling, it will almost certainly be quicker and offer more choice. A few sessions may not cost as much as you think, and at what price your mental health?
9. I will have to take time out of work.
Not necessarily! Many counsellors, me included, offer a variety of evening and weekend sessions to fit in around your working week.
10. Other people will judge me for seeing a therapist.
You would be surprised who comes to counselling, it’s often those you would least expect. Anyone can be affected by trauma or loss or be affected by mental health issues. Counselling does not have the stigma that it used to and is accessed by all sorts of people from all walks of life as more and more people recognize it as a resource like any other.
Besides, no-one has to know. Mind’s Eye Therapy is discretely located in a serviced office block with many other types of business and the name is not on the door to preserve anonymity.
Last changed: Apr 02 2012 at 11:42 AM
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