Ten weeks of the “Introduction of counselling course” has soon finished, but it has had a big influence on me and changed many of the opinions and beliefs I used to hold about counselling. Through the challenge of self disclosure and self development, it has led me to a deeper understanding of myself, the set of values that I hold, my prejudices towards others, where they came from and how it developed in my journey through life.
Firstly, it gave me a new understanding about what counselling is and how it works. It is not just a set of fixed theories and acquired skills. It is about heart to heart communication, a full devotion of energy, attention and time from one human being to another, it involves love, caring, understanding, a willingness to help, compassion, empathy, congruence, respect, warmth and unconditional acceptance to others ,encompassing the best aspects of human nature between individuals. It is true that not everyone is suited to counselling and conversely some people can naturally make good counsellor. It is not just a job, but a commitment of devotion. Also the way to learn counselling is not just to remember the theory and practise according to a set of standards like in many other subjects. It is sometimes necessary to follow your heart, be totally genuine and transparent to the client and to yourself, to try to truly and deeply understand, to explore all the complications of human nature and individual circumstances and also keep on facing the challenges that confront you. There is no possible way of pretending to understand and feigning assistance. It is a long journey to seek the truth and seek the solution for clients, also for yourself.
Secondly, the attitude required to practise counselling is different to how I previously perceived it to be. I was trained to be a medical professional in university. I practised for 8 years as a general medical doctor in a Chinese hospital and 6 years as a complementary therapist in the UK. I have...