Purpose of Counselling.
Counselling or Psychotherapy provides an opportunity for you to explore the difficult feelings, thoughts and behaviours that have blocked the way to satisfying relationships, personal happiness, and self-awareness. In this process you may need to examine difficult topics or times in your life, which may result in strong emotional responses.
As your therapist, I am committed to providing the safe space and guidance for you to experience what you need to move forward. The length of time required for successful therapy depends on a number of things: the issues the client wishes to resolve, the readiness of the client to change, and the ability of the client to trust themselves and the therapist to do the work required. Many people find relief after 4 – 6 sessions; others may take a year or more.
Counsellor or Psychotherapist?
Anyone can call themselves a Counsellor or a Psychotherapist. In order to regulate who can become and call themselves a Counsellor, The B.C. Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC), together with several other organizations, filed a proposal with the provincial government to be regulated under the Health Professions Act (HPA). The goal is the proclamation of a new College of Counselling Therapists.
A Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) is registered with BCACC and must have a minimum of a Masters Degree in Counselling Psychology or Clinical Psychology.
A Counsellor helps clients make decisions, change behaviors, solve problems and learn new ways of being. A Psychotherapist may do all the same things as a Counsellor, and have a therapeutic orientation that includes experiential, depth or insight oriented work.
Psychotherapy 101
The goals of psychotherapy are for the therapist and client to work collaboratively to:
-
Say what has been held in for too long. Let go of the pain and sadness that has kept your truth from being spoken.
-
Discover who you are and how you got to be this way. It is not about blaming or shaming, but uncovering.
-
Learn new ways of being in the world. Change beliefs and inner models of self, other, and the world. Change habits that cause unnecessary suffering.
-
Get past the past; allowing yourself to be free to move forward into the NOW.
-
Gain an ease with yourself: become comfortable in your own skin, accept yourself fully and accept others, find happiness and self-love...isn't that what it's all about?
What about Confidentiality?
Information shared in counselling, including the fact that you have come for counselling is confidential.
No information will be released to family members or outside agencies without your written consent.
The three exceptions to confidentiality are:
- If you indicate a clear and immediate danger to yourself or to someone else,
- If you report that a child is being or has been abused,
- If we are subpoenaed by the court of law.
It is in these exceptions that the therapist and client collaboratively determine a safety plan.
