The word ‘counsellor’ is spoken about more openly these days. It’s no longer a taboo subject for most people. Some are even happy to talk about their experience of counselling and share it with others. But what happens when you walk through the door of the counselling room for the first time?
It’s true that the counselling experience is unlike any other. You are not sitting with a friend or family member. This person before you is a stranger and yet you are here to tell them about some of your deepest concerns.
It’s understandable that you might be feeling nervous or apprehensive.
And yet, if you are with a counsellor who you feel comfortable with, you might be surprised how quickly you feel able to open up and talk.
It’s a good idea if you can go into your first counselling session with a willingness to be as open and honest as you are able to. The more you feel able to tell your counsellor, the more likely they are to be able to help you.
So what actually happens?
Initially the counsellor may ask you if you’ve had any previous experience of counselling. This can help both the counsellor to get a sense of how used you are (or not) to this kind of situation. It’s also an opportunity for the client to talk about how previous experiences went or, if this is the first time, to perhaps express how they feel about that.
The counsellor will then ask the client to say something about why they’ve come and what particular problems are troubling them. Clients often find that simply being able to talk about something that they might have been bottling up or struggling with has a positive impact. In addition, even at this early stage, the counsellor may offer some useful insights: ask questions that prompt a different perspective or reflect back some of the client’s situation in a way that can be helpful.
The counsellor may then ask the client something about their current lives – their family and work for example – and about their history. How was their childhood? What was it like growing up in their family? These are questions that help to give the counsellor a deeper, clearer sense of the person sitting before them. So often, the problems that we’re struggling with today have at least some of their roots in the past and it can be enormously helpful to a counsellor to have some understanding of their client’s past from an early stage.
Towards the end of the allotted time (generally an hour), the counsellor will usually stop and ask the client how they are feeling about the session. This is an opportunity to discuss what the experience has been like and to talk about whether or not they would like to continue (or to go away and have a think about it).
Initial sessions often end with clients surprised at how much better they feel after one session but aware that there is more work to be done if they really want to tackle their problem.
If you would like to discuss or book an initial session, please contact Carrie Rose on carrie@carrierose.co.uk or 01285 862158
