How Counseling Works

One of the most difficult things for human beings, including myself, is for us to recognize and change our patterns of thoughts, feelings and behavior.  But people are doing it.  And today it is apparent to many that humanity is undergoing an amazing shift toward higher consciousness, awakening from dreams steeped in thought and repetition.  It is a natural and spiritual evolutionary process where people move into higher energy levels and higher states of awareness.  Our assumption must always be that we can be more aware than we already are, in order for us to grow.

So what is the difficulty?  Well, we are very cyclical in our own worlds.  We are like proverbial ants, marching through our daily lives doing the same things over and over.  Although in the back of our minds, we know this to be true, it is hard to recognize.  The good news is that we are able to awaken from this repetition and gain control over our lives.  We can begin to really live because we can consciously create new ways that give us more joyful and peaceful thoughts, feelings and behaviors.  We can shift our ways of being and doing in this world and lead a more nutritious and meaningful life.  These are times of transition in our lives.

When we come to a point where we are ready to take a growth step, it is natural for us to reach out to others for help.  We want to know what they know and how they took their steps.  We very much depend upon the wisdom of the ages if we wish to reap the fruits of their labors.  This means ultimately that we grow in relationships, with our teachers, our ministers, our friends and our families.  Indeed, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to surround ourselves with loving individuals.  In a sense, this is what a therapeutic relationship is all about.

In a therapeutic relationship, a counselor offers clients a unique level of presence, which means really being with them and offering very caring levels of attention and concern.  Counselors aim to provide a sacred atmosphere of valuing and accepting clients just the way they are without imposing a need to change upon them.  The hope is that counselors are genuine and are able be honest with their own feelings, thoughts and behaviors.  When the client perceives that the atmosphere is one of concern, one of honesty and one of acceptance, a trusting relationship can be established.   This is the point at which real therapeutic work can begin.

Ultimately we all have problems and we feel overwhelmed at times on how to process everything going on.  It’s not easy.  Life is very difficult.  Counselors can help by getting involved in the world of the client, really understanding and vesting emotional energy into the healing or growing process.  We have difficulties in our lives that we just cannot solve alone.  A therapeutic relationship is a safe way to share our world with another.  Counselors then can relate back with their own experiences and how they worked through something similar. They encourage clients to make new life plans and try out new ways of living.  Counseling is a time to re-examine our lives and no matter what our past is, learn to move forward into the present and not be afraid of the future.  It can be challenge for us, but it can also be one of the most rewarding experiences we can have.  There is simply a blissful joy in raising our energy and raising our own awareness.