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Counselling
The aim of counselling is to assist the client in finding their own answers to questions and to become more in charge of their life, to be able to live their own life rather than be lived by it.
Counselling is different from other types of help or assistance, where an individual might become, appropriately at times, the object of diagnosis or assessment and are then told what to do.
Good objective listening is the basis of all counselling. This type of listening (to all aspects of a person's situation) can aid the individual in discovering more about themselves, their strengths and weaknesses, values and priorities and, to not only find their own solutions, but also take action toward realising them.
It is not an easy process as it often entails digging below the surface and talking about uncomfortable aspects of self that tend to be pushed aside in everyday life. Although disturbing, it can also be a relief to air half-buried ideas and deal with feelings in a positive manner. It might be helpful to think of the counselling process as an opportunity to take risks that are not usually taken because it might seem bizarre or silly. Ideas, thoughts, feelings that others (or even part of the self) disapprove of can be aired, explored and contemplated in the privacy of the counselling relationship, and in the secure knowledge that the counsellor will not judge anyone for what they have thought or done.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy, as the term is used in this organisation, represents a more in-depth form of counselling, usually extending over more sessions and/or longer periods of time, and dealing with issues in more depth.
It is also somewhat more structured than counselling – while the client’s wishes will always dominate what is said and done, there may be a greater goal orientation in psychotherapy than is ordinarily the case in counselling.
Again, the client can rest assured that all matters discussed will be in the strictest of confidence, with no sharing of information with anyone else without the client’s specific approval (except where otherwise required by law – please ask for details on this). Again, the therapist will not judge clients, no matter what they have thought or done.
All counselling and psychotherapy is done according to the professional ethics demanded by the peak professional organisations of these professions.
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