While counseling is regarded as the art of providing knowledgeable assistance and guidance to someone in order to help people handle personal and psychological issues, it can also involve families and groups. It is not a one-on-one conversation; rather, it is a road that the counselor and the client take together to manage the client's issue, analyze their repetitious behaviors, and develop order to manage the client's issue and come up with new approaches. Additionally, it encourages clients to reach their fullest potential personally and professionally by collaborating with them in a challenging and creative process. Should emphasize that every person's experience with counseling is different.

For many people, treatment lasts a long time. Others may respond with a short-term intervention of a few sessions. The length of counseling depends on several factors, listing the following: mental illness or situation, current environmental stressors, the severity of symptoms and for how long they existed, receiving (or not) support from family and peers, etc. If your issue is simple, the counselor will not keep you for the sake of keeping you; instead, you are invited to walk out the door packed with solutions and an action plan.

Having both the will and the intention will equip you with the needed strength to surpass your problem and find alternative solutions. It is not easy; your treatment will always be affected by external and environmental factors that may at some point affect your progress. However, your perseverance and honesty in sharing your concerns and opening up clearly to me will facilitate the counseling journey and create what is called a halo that will continuously trace you. Counseling is not magic. Work hard, and you’ll get the awaited gratification.

It is a small exercise to reflect on prior to attending your first counseling session. Think about the outcome of the therapy, and what you want to gain from the sessions so that you immediately mention them in the first meeting. Think about the way you want to engage with me. Do you want me to be a listener, offer advice, or chat informally with you? Make a list of specific issues that shaped your current psychological level. Clear the time around your first session; no interruptions are welcome: postpone or reschedule work meetings or gatherings with friends.

The first counseling session is always considered either a starting or ending point. Either you match with the counselor or vice versa, or you don’t. It’s your right to decide, then, not to go with him. Remember, it is all about matching and feeling comfortable and able to build rapport and establish an emotional connection with your counselor. If you don’t feel this, then you have to look for another mental professional. The first session is frequently conducted for free, so there is nothing to worry about taking into consideration that the working alliance wasn’t established yet.

A typical session lasts for 50 minutes maximum. It includes discussions, moments of silence, severe debates, controversial conversations, challenging questions, and agreed-upon decisions.

Sometimes building a rapport with your counselor won’t last. It is a matter of chemistry and continuous effort-making to maintain a good relationship and a well-established action plan during the first session. Losing this energy will surely affect your relationship with the counselor. It is advisable to share those concerns with the counselor and agree on finding new ways to energize this rapport or ending professionally this partnership. Asking for references is recommended in such cases.

The counselor keeps records of the patient’s personal info filled in a form administrated during the first session. This form is kept in a confidential place where no one except for the counselor has access to it. Nothing is recorded; no camera or tape will be used.

Well… it is not recommended. The reason is having time to navigate your difficulties on your own. The goal of counseling is to promote dependency and boost self-confidence so that the client is able to take solid decisions and manage themselves effectively oneself. I want you to get the best of yourself and remain powerful for a long period of time. You can send me an email just to give me insights into what our next session will include. Don’t expect a reply on both phone calls and emails!

Both counselor and client will agree on this. The therapy outcomes and the performance results will definitely play a big role in taking such a decision. The duration of the treatment will definitely define whether it is a suitable time to move toward counseling termination. The progress felt by the client himself is another sign that it is time to end counseling whether in terms of achieving goals or managing the problem. Note that an on-site follow-up program is needed if the client still needs help in handling the counseling conclusion. You will be notified about the probability of termination two or three sessions in advance.

Not at all. Just because you receive counseling, it doesn’t automatically mean that something wrong is happening with you. You can benefit from counseling for something as simple as needing help in reaching goals. Before you come into counseling, you may swing between wanting to understand yourself better and having a sense of failure. Ultimately, you are the person who makes the necessary changes and puts what you have learned into practice. Try to see counseling as a partnership with a warm and empathic professional who can offer you support, without judging you, as you gain greater self-awareness, someone who can identify the triggers behind certain emotions, helps you express your feelings and thoughts with more clarity, or explore patterns of ingrained behavior that remain outside of your conscious awareness.

Counselors never prescribe medications. The first session outcome defines whether the client needs a therapist or can simply get involved in a counseling treatment program. If the counselor detected that the client is suffering from a potential psychological disorder that needs medications, he will directly refer the client to a psychiatrist.

Because psychiatrists are trained medical doctors, they can prescribe medications, and they spend much of their time with patients on medication management as a course of treatment. Psychologists focus extensively on psychotherapy and treating emotional and mental suffering in patients with behavioral intervention.