Why do counsellors/psychologists ask these questions?

hi @Former-Member

Here you are xx

I still really liked his answer did'nt you @Former-Member ?

my friends @Former-Member @-Rayne- @utopia

Hello @Quinn !

Hi @darrenhayes

Dear Quinn,

It's me again. Have you seen your psychologist/counsellor in the meantime? How did it go?

When you walk into the room the counsellor hasn't a clue what to expect - they don't know what is important to you and what you wat to talk about. That is why they start off with a lot of vague open ended questions to try to work out what you need. As I said in my last post, it is helpful to jot down some notes about what you want to talk about and what kind of help you need and show them to the counsellor so that he/she can get an idea of what you want from the session and cut out a lot of the small talk.

Even when I don't do this, I do a bit of thinking in advance and work out what I would like to talk about, whether that is a specific problem troubling me or a more generalised area of discussion. Unfortunately counselling is a two way process - you need to to put in your input so that the counsellor can work on what is troubling you.

I was a telephone counsellor for two years, and the most productive conversations I had was with people who were willing to be open and upfront with what they wanted from me. Counselling can be an immensely liberating experience, I know because I am undergoing it myself. I hope you are having a better experience with counselling. I wish you well,

Ellu

can you tell us anything about your time as a talephone councellor @Ellu ?

things like:

was it good for you ?

Lifeline is such a wonderful site.....can you see why it reaches out to so many people ?

did you feel like dancing after a phonecall and you though that you accomplished something ?

Dear PeppiPatty,

I was a telephone counsellor for two years with an organization called LifeCircle, which looked after people with life-threatening and terminal illnesses. I was rostered on for two half days a week (after undergoing a six-week training programme). It was a very demanding job, because you never knew what kind of call would come through next. Very few people actually had specific questions to ask. Most people wanted to talk. They wanted to tell you their stories and needed support getting through difficult periods. Occasionally people would ring up hysterical, at the end of their tether, and you had to talk to them calmly and work out what you could do to help.

I always considered it a successful call if at the end the caller was calmer, reassured, and had a plan to work on.Obviously in the case of people with terminal illness there was little advice I could offer them, but I could make them feel that someone had the time to talk with them and cared about them. It sounds really depressing but it wasn't - the courage and strength of many of those people was inspirational.

Yes, telephone counselling was good for me. After a shift I always needed some quiet time to digest what I had experienced, and of course we had regular de-briefings with other counsellors. Yes, I feel that I accomplished something by doing something very simple -active listening. It is a very challenging calling, but if you have the right temperament it can be very fulfilling.

Ellu

This is so interesting @Ellu I did 6 months of phonoe councelling but did not have a good experience and left after 6 months......They wanted me to stay on but I got sick of some people tha tI felt that did not manmage well.

This of course was in 2002 so I was haping that it has changed a Lot.

I caertainly had an ear and actively listened butit was a little while ago and best left that experience behind.

Plans are good are'nt they? Also a routine page on the fridge of what time things are on sticky taped on the fridge......

It was so interesting reading your message.....

Thank you @Ellu

Dear PeppiPatty,

I am sorry you had a bad experience with counselling. Sometimes you just can't help some people, no matter what advice you give them. That is pretty hard to swallow, and can be very frustrating. If it was getting to you you were wise to quit.

Have you ever considered some other form of voluntary work? Part-time community work is really rewarding, and you meet other people and forget your own problems for a while. In Victoria you can google Volunteering Victoria and it will come up with all sorts of opportunities. I imagine they have the same sort of thing in other States. Alternatively you could contact your local council or one of the big charities (Salvation Army, St.Vincent de Paul etc.) directly. I am doing two part-time volunteering jobs at he moment, and I find I look forward to getting out of the house, meeting other people and doing something useful in the community. I don't know what your circumstances are, but you might like to give it a try. All the best,

Ellu