Counselling
What is Counselling?Counselling is about dealing with how you feel about things.
It’s normal to have times of feeling down, or fed up. But if those feelings get in the way of being able to get on with your life, counselling might be a way of sorting this out.
Why do people have Counselling?
People come to Counselling for all sorts of reasons.
> It may be that something has happened in the past (like abuse, or someone you were close to dying or leaving), or difficulties in the present (to do with parents, friends or relationships, or at school or work).
> It may be that someone is harming themselves, or feeling suicidal, or doing things that he/she doesn’t want to go on doing, but can’t stop.
> There may be a general feeling of being down or dissatisfied, without any obvious reason for this.
> There are no “unimportant” reasons for coming to counselling. If someone is finding something difficult, and this is mostly to do with feelings, counselling may help.
Who can use Counselling Services?
Different Counselling Services work in different ways.
Some are for young people, and some are for everyone but don’t work with anyone younger than 16 or 18.
Some work with any issue; others work in one area only (like drugs use or sexual abuse). In some services, there may be time limit (often 6 weeks); at others, people can come for as long as they want.
Most services would be OK about you having someone with you the first time or two you came, if you wanted this. If you want someone else to do the checking out for you (like a friend or a family member, or someone else working with you) that would usually be fine.
What happens at Counselling Services?
Usually the first session is exploratory – a chance for you to find out whether counselling is going to be useful or not.
In some services one person does all the first sessions. In others, different people will do this.
They should tell you about the way their Service keeps things private, and what the limits are, at the beginning of the session. You should also be able to check this out over the phone first if you want to.
If you want to continue after this session, you might see another counsellor for ongoing counselling. But this person would then be your counsellor for as long as you used the service, unless you wanted to change.
Many Counselling Services are free, but some may make a charge. You should be able to find out about this before you decide to use the service.
> Youth Counselling Service - WEST SURREY
> Youth Counselling Service - EAST SURREY
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