Counselling, Psychotherapy, Mental Health & Happiness Blog.

7 Mistakes to Avoid When Looking for a Counsellor

24/2/2023

Finding a counsellor who suits your needs and preferences is a crucial part of ensuring that you receive the best possible care. A good counsellor can provide you with a safe, non-judgmental space to explore your feelings and work towards positive change in your life. However, not all counsellors are created equal, and it's essential to be aware of the mistakes you need to avoid when searching for one. In this article, we will discuss the mistakes to avoid when looking for a counsellor and provide you with some tips to help you find the right one.

Mistake 1: Not Doing Your Research:

The first mistake you should avoid when looking for a counsellor is not doing your research. It's crucial to have a clear idea of what you're looking for in a counsellor, what your needs are, and what kind of therapy you're interested in before you start your search. Researching potential counsellors before scheduling an appointment will give you an idea of their qualifications, experience, and therapy style.
Moreover, don't hesitate to ask your friends, family, or primary care physician for referrals. They may know of someone who has experience working with your specific needs. Online directories and review sites can also help you to narrow down your options by reading about the experiences of others who have worked with them.

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Long Overdue...

5/7/2019

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It's fair to say that an update here is more than a little bit overdue. It's hard to believe that it's been so long! I want to start bringing you new content and information that will hopefully be of help to you, but before I do that I think it's only fair that I give you an update and explain what I've been doing for the last two and a half years.

My last post was about The Counselling Centre (www.thecounsellingcentre.net). A lot of my time since then has gone towards making The Counselling Centre what it is today: one of the biggest and busiest centres for professionally accredited Counselling & Psychotherapy in south Dublin. Our Therapists now provide in excess of 5,000 hours of Counselling & Psychotherapy to clients each year.

In January 2017 I joined an organisation as a full time Family Therapist. I cannot say very much about this work as it is all confidential, but I can say that it has been both incredibly challenging and extremely rewarding, and that even to this day I continue to learn a lot from the delivery of this service. Very recently I made the decision to go part time in this, which has freed up time for me to focus more on my other work.

I have continued to work with clients individually in private practice, no matter how busy I have been. This is the work that I love the most, and now that I have more time I will make myself available to work with more people on a 1:1 basis again.

The Mindful Meanings Podcast ceased on episode 11. With The Counselling Centre, the Family Therapy, and my own private practice, there was simply no time left to create new content. Even though the last episode of the podcast published in September 2016, I still to this day have people reach out to me to let me know how the podcast helped them in some way. I love that because helping people was the very reason that I launched the podcast in the first place. I am happy to keep the podcast live, but whether or not new episodes are on the cards for the future, I do not yet know.

I did complete the Marathon that I was training for (in 2016!), and thanks to the generosity of folks from the Mindful Meanings community I was able to raise money for Mental Health charities in the process.

In a nutshell that's what I have been up to since you last heard from me. Now that my working schedule is due to change in the coming months, I want to get back to putting out content that can hopefully be of help to more people than I could ever work with on a 1:1 basis. I have not yet set a concrete plan for this content, but at a minimum you can expect to see more articles on mental health and happiness on this blog, new content for the Mindful Meanings email list, and I think that the website itself needs a fresh coat of virtual paint.

If there is something that you would particularly like to see me create, please let me know via the contact page. I'm open to all suggestions and if it's something that I can do and it has the potential to be of benefit to people, then I'll quite possibly do it.

Namasté :)

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The Mindful Meanings Podcast

7/2/2016

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Update: The Mindful Meanings Podcast is live since February 2016 and is topping the rankings for Mental Health on iTunes. You can find the show on iTunes or on this site here:

The Mindful Meanings Podcast

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At the end of last year I set a goal to have launched a new podcast by the end of January this year. It’s the first Sunday in February as I write this, and while I haven’t launched the podcast – I’m almost there - so I’m happy enough with that.

There was a lot for me to learn in order to be able to launch a high quality podcast. It was frustrating at times, and a lot of work at other times, but I feel that it’s been worth it. Not everything has gone exactly as I had hoped, but overall I’m pretty happy with how it’s turning out.

The Mindful Meanings Podcast will cover all things Psychotherapy, Mental Health, and Happiness. Its aim is to provide in an entertaining way, information and actionable advice that you can use to improve the quality of your life – no matter where you are starting from.

I was pushing to get the podcast launched by today, but that’s just not going to happen. My new mantra is “Done is better than perfect”, but there is still a level of quality that I’m not prepared to drop below. Although it’s a lot of fun putting together the podcast episodes, if they’re not going to be of real value to people then there’s not much point in me putting the time into them.

And so, my new aim is to have the podcast launched and submitted to iTunes by this time next week (Sunday). I’ve created this page in anticipation of that, and once the show is live I will add all the episodes here as they come out, along with the show notes, etc.

The messages of support and appreciation I’ve received on social media over the past couple of months about the podcast have been humbling. I could never doubt that there is a real need for a podcast like this and I feel very privileged to be a position to create it.

The new deadline and target for the podcast is: Three episodes live, downloadable, and submitted to iTunes by 14/02/2016, and one new episode uploaded per week after that – for a minimum of one year.

I’m super excited to be this close to launch, and I’m already looking forward to the next post announcing that the Mindful Meanings Podcast is live.
Have a great week, and be sure to check this page again from 14th Feb onward.

Namasté :-)

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3 Easy Ways to Feel Better Now

3/1/2016

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Much of the upset that we endure in day to day life can be healed with a little understanding of how our thought affects us. Our minds influence our emotions, which in turn influence our bodies.

When we understand how this connection works it becomes a lot easier to choose how we want to feel, rather than being victim to whatever the day throws at us. I’m going to give you three easy ways that you can stop fear, stress, anxiety or anger from getting in the way of your happiness.

These emotions are typically our bodies’ response to a perceived threat. It’s what’s known as the fight-or-flight response. It would be more accurate to name it the fight-flight-or-freeze response however, as these are the ways that our body adapts to deal with danger. The medical term for this is the sympathetic nervous system.

Historically this response system has served us very well, as our bodies would adapt to face danger. Various physiological changes occur, such as increased blood flow to our arms (for fighting) and legs (for running) and numbing of the pain receptors in our body, and a rush of adrenaline to help us respond faster to whatever threatens us.

When the threat is real this response system works brilliantly, and gives us our best chance of survival. Today though, rather than the threat being real (something like a predatory animal), it is often imagined (judgement or criticism for example).

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5 Things We All Need To Be Happy

13/12/2015

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My work as a psychotherapist varies all the time, and it differs with every person who sits in front of me. No two people are the same, and even when two people experience an almost identical set of experiences and difficulties, their journey through that is completely unique.

For therapy to be effective then, it has to be fluid and tailored to the individual person. Having said that however, there is something that I keep coming back to time and time again.

Everything we do in life is a behaviour, and all of our behaviours are motivated by one of two things. To feel good, or to avoid pain. Whether we realise it or not, in order to feel good we strive to satisfy the basic psychological needs that all of us have. It's not possible to be happy unless we are satisfactorily meeting these needs.

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Using Dream Journals to Discover what Your Dreams Mean

13/11/2015

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In this post I'm going to talk a little bit about dreams and developing dream recall. Dreams are fascinating, and they can provide us with so much information that can help us in many ways. For a dream to be useful however, we first have to remember it.

That's where dream journaling comes in. An adult will typically dream several times every night, with our most active dreaming done during the REM (rapid eye movement) stages of the sleep cycle. Our most active dreaming is done during REM sleep, but how many of these dreams can you remember when you wake up in the morning?

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Choice Theory in a Nutshell

19/8/2015

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As an integrative psychotherapist, my work varies all the time, and I adapt the therapy to suit the needs of the individual client. Very often however, I find that I will use Choice Theory / Reality Therapy as part of the work I do with many clients.

The reason I use it so often is the fact that it is effective and the understanding of it empowers clients to make more effective choices in their lives. And no matter how bad things may seem, we always have choice.

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Leaving Cert Tips From a Therapist

13/3/2015

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Recently I have been working with some young people ahead of their Leaving Certificate exams.

While every person is different, there are some things I can share here that we have been working on that may be helpful to others facing their upcoming exams. If you are someone who is taking the Leaving, or you know someone who is, then you might benefit from the following tips from the therapy room.

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Depression vs Vitality

12/2/2015

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Andrew Solomon said in his wonderful and eloquent TED talk on depression, that “The opposite of depression is not happiness. It is Vitality”

Many sufferers of depression will resonate with this statement. Often one of the worst things about depression is the complete lack of energy and zeal. I believe that this is the reason why many interventions or attempts at lifting depression, personally or professionally, are unsuccessful.

It doesn’t matter how well designed or insightful the intervention may be. It doesn’t matter how many times it has worked in the past, or for others. If we cannot muster the energy to try it, then it will never work.

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The Most Important Question in Relationship Counselling

28/2/2014

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One question can determine whether or not relationship counselling can be successful, and it is a question that can be asked from the outset. I always ask couples who come to see me for relationship counselling this question very early on in the first session, and I will stay with the question until a satisfactory answer is arrived at. If it is possible to do so that is. For without a positive answer to this question by both persons in the relationship, there is no guarantee that any amount of therapy will be able to help.

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I am a psychotherapist, trainer, coach and meditation teacher, working with people face to face in Dublin, Ireland, and worldwide via Skype. I blog about mental health, happiness, personal growth & development, spirituality, and other things that interest me.

Disclaimer

The author(s) of this blog express thoughts and opinions based on personal and professional experience. Please note that as there is no established professional relationship between author and reader, that this blog does not constitute therapy or professional advise and should not be taken as such.

7 Mistakes to Avoid When Looking for a Counsellor

Long Overdue...

The Mindful Meanings Podcast

3 Easy Ways to Feel Better Now

5 Things We All Need To Be Happy

Using Dream Journals to Discover what Your Dreams Mean

Choice Theory in a Nutshell

Leaving Cert Tips From a Therapist

Depression vs Vitality

The Most Important Question in Relationship Counselling

Featured on:

Author

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