In simple terms, counselling is getting advice from a professionally trained person who can help device a solution or ease the effects of a circumstance. While most people might not see the need to get counselling, counselling is an activity that most people could use because there is no issue to big or too small. Unfortunately the stigma around it is that it is meant for people with mental illnesses. For this reason people remain in their situations which then have a ripple effect that affects other unrelated parts of their lives. The list below describes a few reasons why a person should consider undergoing counselling:
1. Stress Management
Counselling can teach you what stress is and how to deal with it in your every day personal life. By getting professional counselling, you will find out how stress effects your life, health, and relationships and therefore gain knowledge on how to eliminate unnecessary stress, and what to do about unavoidable stresses at home and work.
2. Self- Injury Counselling and Therapy
Self-Injury is widely misunderstood and can have a variety of underlying causes and triggers. A professional who understand that these causes and triggers are real and painful will help the patient to identify them by identifying alternative coping methods that are not addictive or destructive. If you or your adolescent is struggling with any form of self-injury, please seek help.
3. Working on small problems in the early stage to prevent larger problems.
For instance:
Couples often do not turn to therapy until their relationship is nearly finished whereas they can point to times in previous years when they should have begun therapy.
Depression alters an individual’s (and families’) life. Unchecked depression can lead to suicide and drastic acting out. It can also lead to doing “nothing.” Feelings of helplessness and despair bring a decline in self-esteem, loss of employment, missed opportunities, and preventable problems.
Pre-marital counselling helps couples establish expectations for one another and develop better communication and conflict resolution skills.
4. Grief Counselling and Therapy
Whether a death is sudden or anticipated, losing someone is never easy. The hardest part comes after the funeral when everyone else returns to their normal lives and you experience isolation and loneliness as you continue to grieve. With compassion and understanding, counselling will walk with you through the painful stages of grief.
5. Relationship Problems
Learn techniques to improve relationships at home and at work. You can enrich your marriage and learn how to improve your parenting skills. If you are in an addictive relationship, you can develop a means to break the addiction and learn more about healthy boundaries. Counselling can help you build strong relationship skills. The relationship you have with yourself is the most important one, and counselling can bring new insight that will help you develop a healthy sense of yourself.
6. Counselling and Therapy for Post-Partum Depression
Although most new mothers experience the “baby blues,” some new moms struggle with more intense feelings of sadness, fear, anxiety, and anger known as post- partum depression. Although no fault of one’s own, many women are embarrassed or ashamed of their symptoms and too often struggle alone. Post- partum depression typically manifests during the first 6 months post- delivery and can be caused by numerous physical and emotional triggers.
7. Family Therapy for Parents / Parenting Counselling
Parenting is the most challenging job in the world. Regardless of the age of your child, each developmental stage brings its own difficulties. Through collaboration, education, and cooperation, counselling will help create a positive parenting plan to best suit your needs. Sometimes you just need a fresh perspective from someone who has your best in mind.
8. Alcohol and Drug Addiction
Therapists have a lot of experience in helping with problems related to addiction. They evaluate and educate. You will be guided through the various emotional and psychological problems underlying addictions. Their approach to treatment is multi-modal with a variety of processes to help overcome alcohol and drug problems.
9. Counseling for Depression
Everyone feels sad or blue from time to time. Usually experiences of sadness are triggered by a loss or disappointment, things go wrong, people let us down, we fail to get something we wanted, we lose something we valued. Occasional episodes of sadness are not usually a problem; however, if it lasts for more than a few days, doesn’t go away, and is at the degree of considerable psychological discord (you just don’t feel “like yourself”), it is a good idea to seek professional help to gain control over the depression. Depression is the debilitating condition that interferes with our ability to experience pleasure, interact with people or actively participate in life.
Counselling will help you feel less alone, gain perspective about life’s stressors and disappointments, take control of your life, establish a healthy feeling of hope and faith, and “be yourself” again.
10. Anger Management
When anger is out of control it is the strength of the emotional reaction that can hurt you, and what you do with those feelings that can hurt others. Don’t wait for things to get totally out of control to seek help. Counsellors can teach you how to deal with unpleasant feelings and improve control issues in relationships. You will be able to regain a positive perspective in your life and not allow your anger to ruin it. We can help you deal with your emotions, communicate your thoughts and feeling without conflict, and relax your emotional ‘muscles’ while feeling good about yourself.
Mbali Radebe
