Lanzarote Relocation

Andrew Leatham, a resident in lanzarote has very kindly provided us with this introduction to counselling. Thanks Andrew for your time, and for this article.

You don’t have to be mad…
British Telecom once ran an ad. campaign with Bob Hoskins telling everyone it was good to talk.  There is a school of thought that believes confession is good for the soul (though try telling that to someone on remand!).  Counselling comes somewhere in the middle of this. While it is good to talk counselling is not just talking for talking sake and similarly while it’s good to get things off your chest, counselling does not require that you have to tell anything.

So what is this counselling and who is it for? Many people have heard of marriage guidance counselling and this is one form of counselling but counselling is for any one, as an individual, couples or a group. Counselling is for single people and people who have partners. The counselling can be about current relationships, or the lack of them, it can be about past relationships with anyone, maybe a partner or family member. People seek counselling because they find it difficult to cope with or face up to an aspect of their life for some, any, reason.

On 26th February 1996 the BBC programme Watchdog ‘exposed’ the counselling profession as being badly regulated when they managed to get the north of England comedian Bernard Manning enrolled as a counsellor. While this did nothing for the image of counsellors (though it may have helped Mr. Manning’s general publicity) it did give the profession a wakeup call. As we move towards February 2006 the intervening ten years have seen huge improvements in the way counsellors are vetted, trained and accepted into professional organisations.

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (www.bacp.co.uk) is the largest and broadest body in its sector. To be an accredited member of the BACP requires a thorough examination of ability and practice. Counsellors are required to fulfil comprehensive on going training and submit to regular supervision of their work. To keep accreditation a counsellor must continue to meet the high standards laid down by the association and have professional insurance for the work they do. The BACP also help protect the interests of clients and hear complaints that a client may have about a BACP counsellor.

There is still an image of counsellors, therapists, psychiatrists that evolves round the idea that they are for mad or weak people. Counselling does not require bright lights or darkened rooms, straight jackets or a couch, though a cuppa never hurts. Through Reaching Out Counselling Services I seek to provide a supportive and confidential environment in which a couple or an individual can explore issues which are troubling them and stopping them from leading happy lives. I do this in conversation but bringing my training and experience to the process.

To assist clients as they find their own answers to their particular issues requires them to be very sane and strong enough to face up to the fact that they have a need.
Not everyone can admit that.

Andrew Leatham
www.reachingout.co.uk

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