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What Exactly Is Counselling?

Posted By : Administrator Monday 10 Oct, 2016
What Exactly Is Counselling?


Written by Rupalim Patgiri


It is a myth that counselling is only for people who are suffering from serious mental health issues. Every one of us has problems that begin as minor concerns and irritations, nonetheless causing some amount of discontentment on a regular basis. If not dealt with at the initial stages, these tiny roadblocks may turn into formidable obstacles in our journey of life.


Counselling can be defined as the provision of professional assistance and guidance in resolving personal or psychological problems. It has three aspects—preventive, developmental and curative. Counselling helps one develop an awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses, and conduct a realistic assessment of one’s surrounding and life circumstances. Understanding these factors is extremely important for preventing certain predictable crises in life and also for self-actualisation—the full blossoming of an individual. The curative function of counselling has a higher level of difficulty and hence is performed along with two other branches of psychotherapy, like clinical psychology and psychiatry.


Approaching a counsellor enables a person to discuss his or her everyday problems, such as stress, anxiety, lifestyle-related disorders, work–life balance, conflicts and maladjustments with a non-judgemental, empathetic and trained professional in a safe environment with the promise of total confidentiality. That means one can pour one’s heart out to a counsellor without the fear of being judged, ridiculed, criticised or becoming the object of gossip. 


Counselling is considered a talking therapy. However, it does not mean that a counsellor makes one sit down, gives advice or solves problems on behalf of the counselee. Rather, a counsellor’s job is ‘to facilitate the client’s work in ways that respect the client’s values, personal resources and capacity for self-determination’ (BACP,1986). The client is encouraged to talk about what is bothering him or her, to uncover the root causes of the issue and identify specific ways of thinking about it. All of us are born with some flaw or the other, which needs to be overcome. Besides that, sometimes we also get negatively conditioned by our upbringing and the surroundings in which we grow up. A counsellor makes us realise how these things are hindering our progress in life. At the heart of counselling is our ability to accept our shortcomings, to take responsibilities of our mistakes and our willingness to change ourselves for the better. Over a couple of sessions, the counsellor tries to make the client see things in the right perspective, develop insights and enhance his or her decision-making power. Then together, they make several action plans for the latter, either to reconcile the issues or to find ways of coping with matters that are beyond human control. In a way, counselling is a humble human effort to attain peace and contentment, which is at the heart of the serenity prayer:


O God, grant me the serenity 


To accept things which I cannot change,


And courage to change what I can,


And the wisdom to know the difference.


Catex Health is a large network of mental health experts who are available 24x7 for your support and will ensure confidential, dignified and empowering support for any sort of emotional distress. Ms. Rupalim Patgiri is a member of our network. Click here to reach out to her or call +91 9911775626.


About the Author


Ms. Rupalim Patgiri has over 15 years of experience as an Educator and has been working with adolescents extensively during the course of her career. Working closely with children and adolescents as a teacher, she often found herself guiding and counselling children as well as parents on issues like Lack of Concentration, Adjustment in School, Exam Stress, Career Planning and so on. Her desire and drive to serve the children better lead her to go back to being a student and attain qualifications as a counsellor as well. Ms. Rupalim is well versed with handling Behavioural, Academic and Emotional Issues common to the Adolescent population.