People may feel overwhelmed, anxious or stressed during challenging times. We can be affected in different ways, at different times in our life. Counselling can be beneficial to many people.
Opening up and talking to a professional therapist about your thoughts, worries and feelings can give you the time and space to reflect. There are many different types of counselling and talking therapies, which can help you to make sense of what you are experiencing and develop ways of managing.
Sessions are confidential, so you can talk about things you might not feel comfortable discussing with anyone else.
We chat with our Lead Counsellors, Katie and Liz, about some of the ways counselling can help.
What is counselling?
Liz and Katie describe counselling as:
“A professional, supportive, therapeutic relationship where a trained counsellor assists in exploring a person’s thoughts, feelings and experiences in a safe, confidential space
One of the things that makes it different from talking to a friend or family member is the impartial nature of it. We only learn about your life through your own words
And the confidentiality is absolute. You’re not, as making yourself vulnerable within groups you’re already a part of.”
How can counselling help, and do I need to be struggling?
One of the most common misconceptions about counselling is that you need to be in crisis to start.
As Liz explains:
“Rather than seeing counselling as something we only turn to when things feel broken, counselling is a supportive relational space that can help people better understand themselves, their experiences and what they need to maintain their wellbeing.”
Counselling can support people across a wide range of everyday experiences including, stress, anxiety, grief, relationships, work or school pressure as well as personal development and ongoing self-care.
“There doesn’t have to be something wrong for you to want to seek that additional help.”
Challenge negative thoughts
Negative thoughts can be influenced by many factors. Some people may be triggered by negative news articles circulating on social media.
You might spend a lot of time either worrying about the future or regretting the past. A counsellor can help you to distance yourself from catastrophising thoughts where a person imagines the worst possible outcome.
Here are some general examples of catastrophising:
- “Assuming I fail this test, I will never pass school, and I will always fail in life.”
- “If I don’t recover quickly from this procedure, I will never get better.”
- “Supposing my partner leaves me, I will never find anyone else, and I will never be happy again.”
Catastrophising thoughts are not based on evidence. Your counsellor can help you to challenge your thoughts by using proven facts. You will begin to recognise a non-helpful thought and challenge it with a more helpful one.
By working together with your counsellor, you can learn helpful techniques and ways to accept a situation for what it is – both for things happening to you right now, as well as things that will happen to you in the future.
How can counselling help with anxiety?
Anxiety can show up in many ways: persistent worry, difficulty sleeping, avoiding situations, or a constant sense of dread. Counselling gives you space to slow down and look at what’s driving those feelings.
Depending on what feels right for you, a counsellor might draw on CBT techniques.
As Katie explains,
“It will give you things to take away and practise each week on how to manage anxiety or maybe some health anxieties, quite specific things going on for you.”
For those who want to explore more deeply, an integrative approach might combine different methods.
“They may use a bit of psychodynamic to look at past experiences to see if that’s what’s affecting your current behaviours. There could be a bit of CBT if you wanted some help overcoming any irrational thoughts and anxieties and then person-centred is different approaches together.”
How can counselling help you navigate grief and loss?
Grief doesn’t follow a set timeline, and it affects people in very different ways. Counselling offers a space to process loss.
As Katie explains:
“With bereavement, we do find it quite common that a lot of people don’t want to open up to other family members and friends, over the fear of being a burden to them.
Speaking to a counsellor gives them that outsider, almost like a blank page where they can be themselves and not have that fear of worrying other people with what they’re going to open up to.”
Importantly, counselling can also flex around your situation.
Counselling can take place face to face, online or by phone which means it’s accessible even when getting out of the house feels impossible.”
How can counselling help you understand yourself better?
You don’t have to be in crisis to benefit from counselling. Many people come simply to understand themselves more deeply.
“Many people attend counselling to gain an insight into their own thoughts, emotions, patterns and behaviours. There doesn’t have to be something wrong or something that needs fixing.
It can just be a place to go, share your thoughts and find out a bit more about yourself and your behaviours.”
This kind of self-exploration can be genuinely life-changing because you gave yourself the time and space to reflect. It could help give clarity in what you want in life and make changes to move in a new direction.
Counselling as self-care: not a last resort
Counselling can give you the opportunity to take a look at your lifestyle, identify specific obstacles and find ways to overcome these — to move towards a healthy lifestyle.
At Platfform, we think about counselling differently.
As Liz and Katie explain,
“We want to try and shift that narrative away from counselling as being a treatment and more towards a space for reflection, connection, growth and wellbeing.”
“You would go to the gym to look after your physical health. So counselling could be included as part of a healthy lifestyle: dedicated, protected hour that’s just for you.”
The relationship you build with your counsellor is central to all of this.
Feeling safe, respected and understood is one of the most important factors in counselling. That trust is what makes it possible to open up and make real progress.
Counselling is time for you
People have the chance to work through their challenges with a counsellor and find ways to move forward.
Counselling can offer an opportunity to re-evaluate and reflect on where you are and where you want to go. You may want to talk about difficult life events or your relationships and emotions.
Or you might want to challenge negative thoughts and behaviours. You can learn techniques to cope with life’s challenges or have a stronger sense of who you are in the world.
Talking therapy offers a safe space where people can speak openly, feel understood, gain clarity about their goals, and end the session feeling enthused about what’s possible.
What to expect from your first counselling session
Starting counselling can feel like a big step. Counselling can be a journey of self-discovery and it can be a life-changing experience, but it can also be hard work, emotional and challenging.
At Platfform, we begin with an initial assessment, a 30 to 50 minute session where we talk through what you’d like to get from therapy and match you with the counsellor best suited to your needs.
From there, sessions are 50 minutes long and can take place face to face at our Cardiff or Swansea centres, online, or by phone.
As Liz and Katie put it:
“It’s important to know that you’re side by side with the client. You’re not there to tell them what to do. It’s listening to their situation and how they feel and working at the client’s pace.”
Counsellors help you to explore options and feelings, but all the decisions remain yours. The main aim of counselling is your own personal empowerment, not instruction from a third party or counsellor.”
Interested in counselling?
The first step is to book an initial assessment. Following the first appointment, we can pair you with a counsellor best suited to your needs. We want to get it right for you so that you have a good relationship and experience, which will help you to achieve your goals.
Get started with counselling here.
Counselling for organisations
We offer a confidential counselling service for employees. Find out more about our workplace counselling service.