One to one counselling, or talking therapy, has and continues to help millions of people every year. As a counsellor, the simple act of talking and listening is your opportunity to help your patients overcome a range of emotional issues, fears, or phobias, giving them confidence and well being, regardless of their age or gender.
People often find it hard to open up and discuss their problems, even to close friends or family members. But talking to a virtual stranger can be the key to getting people to talk freely. As a trained counsellor, you’ll be able to listen to their problems, help them see their issues from a different perspective and find their own answers or coping strategies, without judgement.
All counselling has the single purpose of making your patients feel better. And though their problems may never go away fully, talking therapy will help them feel happier in themselves, and make it easier for them to cope with any underlying issues on a day to day basis.
Common talking therapies
When you train to become a counsellor, you’ll be equipped to deal with a wide range of personal issues for people. And while there’s no definitive age group of people using the services of a counsellor to help them through their problems, there may be particular areas of therapy older or younger people wish to get help with.
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Some of the more common reasons for people of any age to seek the skills of a counsellor are to get help with depression, stress, or anxiety. This could be as a result of seeking medical help from a GP, or sometimes people just make their own mind up and decide that a counsellor could be the person they need to help them through a difficult period in their lives.
Other frequent motivations for talking therapy include overcoming any rational or irrational fears and phobias, as well as changing life habits such as stopping smoking or losing weight. These issues can affect anyone at any time of their lives.
Therapy triggers
There could also be trigger issues that occur, enabling people to seek help for a particular reason, such as a physical illness or disability. Long term, and sometimes irreversible conditions, such as Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, heart disease or stroke, can often lead patients to depression, making it harder to deal with their condition, and who need emotional support to help them cope.
Other issues may be hard for you as well as your patients. Physical or sexual abuse, racism, or any kind of discrimination can be difficult to work through for both parties. But your patient will be able to cope with their past or current issues after a full course of talking therapy sessions with you, helping them live a fuller, happier life.
Couple or group therapy
Over the long term, you may find your counselling career gravitating towards helping relationships or partnerships in need of guidance. Supporting couples and guiding them through relationship problems with talking therapy can help towards saving potentially irreconcilable differences.
While couples who are on the brink of a relationship breakdown will benefit from your skills, partnership therapy may not just be limited to sexual relationships. Business partnerships often breakdown too, and helping both partners see clearly about their own, and their partners, issues will work towards healing any divisions. In both circumstances, ideally both partners will be present, but if one chooses to come to you alone, many issues can still be looked into and discussed.
Family counselling is another area of talking therapy that can be especially rewarding for you as a counsellor, as well as families in need of support. This group family unit therapy can be particularly useful in circumstances such as the death of a close relative, if a child is suffering from depression, or struggling to cope with mental health issues.
How can I help people?
Counselling is the perfect way to help people from all walks of life with a range of mental and physical problems and issues. When you study and train to become a counsellor or therapist, it goes well beyond taking the next steps in your career – it’s about making a real difference in their lives, as well as your own.
Established in 1998, Chrysalis is now the UK’s leading trainer of counselling courses and talking therapies. All our courses combine a creative, enjoyable, and relaxed process, and we always encourage our students to grow, both personally and professionally, while helping others to do the same.
With no final exam, your chosen training course with us will be a blend of assessed practical work and homework assignments, as well as face to face learning. If you’re new to counselling, you’ll gain an understanding and advanced knowledge of the skills required as you work through the your Certificate in Hypnotherapy & Counselling Skills (Course 1, length: 1 year), and your Diploma in Counselling Skills & Theory (Course 2, length: 2 years, which includes Course 1).
As your studies move forward, your Level 4 Advanced Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling (Course 3, length: 3 years, which includes Courses 1 & 2) will culminate in 100 hours of practice in a fully supervised placement situation.
Courses 4 and 5 are our advanced qualification courses that require the successful passing of the previous courses. Both will build on your previous studies, helping you attain a Level 6 Higher Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling.
All our courses at Chrysalis are accredited by the National Counselling Society. And, after completion, you’ll become an qualified counsellor or therapist on their Accredited Register, which is acknowledged by the Professional Standards Authority.