HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF COUNSELLING

No one wants to waste their time, and let’s face it, paying for sessions add up, so we decided to write this article to help you get the most out of your counselling. As counsellors, we love seeing clients get better. Some of the turnarounds we have witnessed have been simply amazing and we consider ourselves to be fortunate to have played a part in a person completely changing their lives for the better. Because we want all of our clients to be able to experience this type of change, we started keeping notes on the characteristics of our successful clients. We asked ourselves, why is that some clients improve so quickly and dramatically while others linger in therapy for years without making any real improvements? Was it something innate and unchangeable about the clients themselves?

As it turns out, the characteristics that make someone an ‘ideal’ client are quite simple and anyone can implement them. We have found that just sharing this information with our clients has caused all of our clients overall to improve. Please continue reading if you too would also like to get better and faster results in counselling:

1. Make your appointments a priority

If you’ve ever tried to learn a new skill or get in shape at the gym, you know that consistency is key. Frequently cancelling and rescheduling appointments are going to hinder or prevent progress in therapy. The clients that get better the fastest come to every appointment without exception. When you make appointments a priority, wonder things start to happen.

2. You are willing to try new skills

In counselling you are going to learn skills and techniques that may sound difficult at first but with practise will eventually become second nature to you. Client who are eager to learn new skills and implement them outside the office space find quicker results.

3. Take responsibility for your mental health

You should come to therapy because you want to and not because someone has asked you to come along. Clients who take care of their mental health get more results out of therapy.

4. Direct and honest feedback

The more feedback we get from you about what is working and what is not working, the more we can tailor our services to be more effective. We never want you to be afraid of hurting our feelings. We value honest feedback from our clients. It allows us to do our job better and it allows services to be more effective.