Useful Tips

According to the American Counseling Association, counseling is defined as: “a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals."There are different counseling theories that counselors use in their therapies. Counselors may choose one theory or another depending on the case in hand. Some counselors specialize in one theory or another and others may pick up techniques from different theories depending on the situation.

With the fast pace of our lives today, we barely have time to take care of ourselves. Our long ‘To Do’ lists often end up with longer ones of unfinished tasks that add up to our daily stress. We are often stressed by lack of enough time to do what we need to do. We are pressured with simple daily issues that accumulate and add to our stress. Sometimes we face more serious problems that may leave us tired, helpless, and hopeless maybe. These feelings

that we experience affect our thoughts, behaviors, and even our functions. Events by themselves mean nothing in our lives, but the way we perceive them is what is important, hence, each one of us experiences the same events in different ways.

Counseling is not magic. Counseling is a result of collaboration between the counselor and the client(s). Counselors can do nothing alone by themselves. It is important for the clients to understand that counseling does not mean giving advises. No one knows about a person’s life better than the person himself/herself. Counselors can help their clients acknowledge the issues causing their stress, grief, or pain and find new ways to deal with them.