I don’t know how you do your job -it must be so depressing!
People say this to me all the time and it's just not true. I love my job. Watch this trailer and tell me if you think this looks depressing. I think it looks like magic.
The connection, the joy, the banter, the side by side-ness that comes out in this is what I love about counselling. Yes, I hear hard stories, challenging stories, heartbreak and hardship but with that comes the opposite. The highs and the lows.
Engage
I was at a fundraising dinner recently and sat next to a journalist. The next day I thought about how similar our jobs are - engage, connect, take your time, build trust, ask questions and find the story behind the story.
The journalist was doing this and asking me what I enjoy about counselling. I told him my favourite article in the weekend paper is The Two of Us. This feature has 2 people with a close relationship tell the story of their connection with the other. It is vulnerable, personal and often based on the very day to day and mundane…but it’s not mundane because it’s about a unique human experience. This is what I love about counselling. The opportunity to really hear someone's story and experience the joy and banter as well as the heartbreak and hardship.
Tell your story
Looking beyond the problem
People come to counselling with a problem (stress, anger, anxiety, grief) but there is so much more to their lives than that and I get to find all those other parts too. I think the clip above gives an indication of this. I'm looking forward to watching and hearing what you think.