Counselling; what is counselling and who to get it from

By / October 9, 2023

What is counselling?

According to the Oxford Dictionary, Counselling is the provision of professional assistance and guidance in resolving personal or psychological problems. Arriving at a definition amongst the people who provide counselling in Dublin, and their corresponding professional bodies is not so simple.

  • British Psychological Society –  counselling psychology is a specific discipline of applied psychology that is concerned with the study of being (ontology), the nature of ‘how we know what we know’ (epistemology) and praxis (clinical application.)
  • British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (1) states that counselling and psychotherapy are umbrella terms that cover a range of talking therapies.
  • Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (2) states it is an activity involving a practitioner who offers a professional service as a helper, and a client who seeks the service.

Counselling service in Dublin

If you would like my help, please use the contact button below to get in touch

Dr Elaine Ryan

If you are reading this article, you are probably considering counselling. If you have never had therapy before the different titles of the people providing therapy in addition to the different styles of therapy can be confusing. People may have the false assumption that counselling can only be delivered by counsellors, in that they need to have the title of counsellor, but psychiatric nurses, psychologists and therapists all deliver counselling.

I am writing a series of articles to help explain therapy in order to help you make an informed decision. It is important to situate myself in the helping profession. I am a counselling psychologist, which means I have trained to a doctoral level and have worked with all types of mental health problems. This training and experience put me in a good position to explain the world of therapy, as I have both the relevant qualifications and experience to speak about the subject matter.

If you are embarking on therapy, it is important that you understand

  • the counselling professions, and
  • the theories of the counselling professions

The counselling professions

The helping profession

The helping profession is in essence people who provide some sort of talking therapy. The people who provide the service vary considerably in terms of training and qualifications, who they can work with, and what models of therapy they can provide.

The therapy itself is also varied and somewhat confusing, so I shall start by explaining the types of counselling professionals and their regulatory bodies before discussing the models of counselling.

What is a profession?

Members of a profession can differentiate themselves from people who provide a service on a voluntary basis or where their work is not regulated.

The helping professions consist of different professions, each with its own professional body, which sets minimum standards, regulations and ethical practices.

What are the counselling professions?

Counselling professions include the following.

  • Psychiatrists
  • Psychologists
  • Psychotherapists
  • Psychiatric nurses
  • Family therapists
  • Therapists

Each profession has its own regulatory body.

Regulatory bodies

Ireland

  • IACP- Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
  • PSI- Psychological Sciety of Ireland.

UK

  • BACP – British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
  • BABCP- British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies
  • BPS- British Psychological Society

Why do we have professional bodies?

Regulation protects you, the public. This HCPC article explains the need for access to trained, qualified and experienced practitioners.

If you are fortunate enough to avail of counselling through bodies such as for example, the HSE or NHS, your therapist will have met stringent criteria to provide you with a counselling service. However, in private practice, for example, it is difficult to navigate through a potential minefield of information, qualifications, and models of therapy. Adherence to the regulations of professional bodies offers protection.

Professional bodies exist to;

  • maintain a register of practitioners – this allows you to choose a counsellor who has met certain standards and adheres to the rules and regulations of their professional body.
  • outline good practices
  • provide a code of ethics, which includes topics such as fitness to practice, respect for the clients, and self-responsibility.
  • set minimum standards of education and training.
  • inform the general public

How to conduct counselling

Different models can be used to counsel and different ways for your therapist to have trained.

Models of counselling and psychotherapy include;

Training

  • private training
  • educational setting – colleges
  • universities

Where do counsellors work?

Voluntary bodies

  • Accord
  • Samaritans
  • Victim support

Educational settings

  • Student counselling services
  • School-based counselling

NHS and HSE

  • Primary care
  • Specialist services
  • Secondary care

Private practice

What do people come to counselling for?

Support

Some people seek counselling for support when they do not want a problem solved or help with a mental health issue, rather they want to be listened to and supported through a particular time or change in their life.

Crisis intervention

People are often offered counselling following a crisis such as a bombing or large-scale accident. This type of counselling helps to reduce psychological damage that may occur following the crisis.

Problem-solving and decision making

Counselling can help people with major decisions such as leaving or remaining in their relationship or help with ongoing health challenges.

Help with mental health.

People are often referred by their GP for cognitive behavioural therapy to help with anxiety and depression.

What to expect when starting counselling

therapy with Dr Elaine Ryan psychologist

The first meeting.

The first time we meet is when I take time to determine your current difficulty.  This is not just a meeting where I listen, although, of course, I shall listen!
In the first counselling session,  I shall find out exactly what the problem is and more importantly, what we can do about it.

Towards the end of our first session, I shall tell you what the problem is, what keeps it going, and what you need to do to make the necessary changes.

I shall also find out exactly what you want to change.  I shall be asking you for goals.  These might be, for example,

 

We discuss goals in the first meeting to allow me to tailor a specific plan of therapy that will help ensure that you get what you need.  It also keeps me accountable and focuses me on what we need to work on together.

In the first session, I shall tell you if I intend to use a particular model of therapy, for example, CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy).  I shall explain the model to you and tell you why I want to use it and why I think it will be helpful.

I will also give you a number of sessions.  This will not be vague; I shall give a number and explain my thinking.

I shall also tell you what future sessions will be like and what will be required from you.

Future sessions

Focus on the plan that we arranged in our first meeting.  Many people think of counselling as where you come to talk about whatever is on your mind, which can happen within a particular therapy model. Still, I like to keep my counselling focused on taking steps to help you achieve what you discussed with me in our initial session.  We could well be working within a model of therapy called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) which is highly structured, and you can read whether it really works or not here,

Our future sessions stick to the plan that we both arranged in the first session; think of it as each session builds on the knowledge and progress made in the previous session.

Because of my training, we can ‘pull’ from other therapy models, so to speak, as and when required.  If you have read anything about me, you will know my interest and respect for neuroscience, and this shall certainly be included in counselling with me, as you need to understand how your brain works.

Do I have to come to Dublin if I want counselling?

In a word, no.  I have designed a series of courses to mimic counselling sessions with me (without the trip to Dublin), which are available to start immediately.  If you want to learn more about them, you can view all my courses here.

The NHS has some great content on what to expect from counselling and you can read it here.

Recap

Counselling is a process that can help the individual with different types of problems and can be administered by different professionals. Professional bodies can help you decide if your intended therapist is qualified and sufficiently skilled to help you with your problem.

Sources

  1. https://www.bacp.co.uk/media/11060/bacp-introduction-counselling-and-psychotherapy-client-information-sheet-march-21.pdf
  2. https://iacp.ie/iacp-code-of-ethics
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