Self-help
Self-help
Seeking counselling can be seen as a form of 'self help'; seeking out support in order to help oneself. Indeed, your counsellor's task is to facilitate you in helping yourself! However, the term is generally understood as referring to more individual and private ways of helping oneself.
Person-centred approaches to counselling and psychotherapy put relationship at the very centre of therapeutic work. 'Self-help' is therefore a very different thing to meeting with a therapist. Nonetheless, for some people self-help resources can offer very helpful ways to look at ourselves and our lives, and to consider new and enabling perspectives. If you would like to explore this, the internet now gives easy access to a plethora of resources. It is important, as with all online services, to be aware that not everything will suit you, and not everything is trustworthy; so be discerning and access only what is right for you.
There are now many thousands of self-help books and resources in bookshops, libraries and available online. Some are excellent, and some are not, and of course excellence is in the eye of the reader! It is a good idea to check if a resource is produced by a well trained and recognised person with lots of experience. Look for self-help resources that have been recommended to you by some one you trust, or endorsed by an organisation or individual of good professional standing.
The same is true of websites. Good places to start might include Mindful. This Canadian organisation offers resources and links centred on the idea of becoming more compassionately aware of our thoughts, feelings, and sensations, and learning to respond to them differently and more in line with our deeper wishes. The NHS also offers a variety of online support, often based on cognitive and/or behavioural ideas; looking at how we can change our thinking patterns and our habitual way of doing things. The On Being Project is a public broadcast organisation exploring individual experience and human connectedness, informed by six 'grounding virtues'; words that matter, generous listening, adventurous civility, humility, patience, and hospitality.
Seeking counselling can be seen as a form of 'self help'; seeking out support in order to help oneself. Indeed, your counsellor's task is to facilitate you in helping yourself! However, the term is generally understood as referring to more individual and private ways of helping oneself.
Person-centred approaches to counselling and psychotherapy put relationship at the very centre of therapeutic work. 'Self-help' is therefore a very different thing to meeting with a therapist. Nonetheless, for some people self-help resources can offer very helpful ways to look at ourselves and our lives, and to consider new and enabling perspectives. If you would like to explore this, the internet now gives easy access to a plethora of resources. It is important, as with all online services, to be aware that not everything will suit you, and not everything is trustworthy; so be discerning and access only what is right for you.
There are now many thousands of self-help books and resources in bookshops, libraries and available online. Some are excellent, and some are not, and of course excellence is in the eye of the reader! It is a good idea to check if a resource is produced by a well trained and recognised person with lots of experience. Look for self-help resources that have been recommended to you by some one you trust, or endorsed by an organisation or individual of good professional standing.
The same is true of websites. Good places to start might include Mindful. This Canadian organisation offers resources and links centred on the idea of becoming more compassionately aware of our thoughts, feelings, and sensations, and learning to respond to them differently and more in line with our deeper wishes. The NHS also offers a variety of online support, often based on cognitive and/or behavioural ideas; looking at how we can change our thinking patterns and our habitual way of doing things. The On Being Project is a public broadcast organisation exploring individual experience and human connectedness, informed by six 'grounding virtues'; words that matter, generous listening, adventurous civility, humility, patience, and hospitality.