THE COUNSELLOR IN THE CLIENT’S CHAIR

After a few personally difficult years Of change and loss I decided I needed to access person-centred counselling. It had been many years since I completed my mandatory 18 sessions during my diploma training, and to be honest, quite a daunting prospect.

I thought I may not have fully grieved for one significant loss and I expected to replay and re-examine my childhood experiences.

I only had three sessions with my counsellor and I was amazed at the subtle shift that happened in my outlook. Talking to another person enabled me to access a level within me that I could never have achieved in my own reflections. The grief of my loss was there, and within that I acknowledged that I was no longer held back by the messages from my past. I had always felt a need to belong, to be part of a group, and although I always knew I had the potential to lead, the need to be part of something always outweighed that drive. What I touched on in those few sessions was my own sense of freedom which was both scary and exhilarating. . From this deep inner shift many things have fallen into place. I have left my job in the NHS to focus on NAVIGATING LIFE.

The potential impact of providing a safe space for another person to be heard has been reinforced, and my desire to offer this to others has strengthened.

The need for good supportive, explorative and reflective supervision for counsellors is my passion, and I strive to provide this for my counselling colleagues.

As counsellors we can become complacent about how we enable change in others, and I know that my counsellor does not know how profound my sessions with her turned out to be. Even though she will never know I would like to offer her a great big THANK-YOU.

Ann Grant

April 2019

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