Counselling Issues

Perhaps you’re looking for counselling to help with your anxiety or depression. This may involve looking at both the present and the past. Anxious feelings, for example, may be set off by ongoing stress in the now. But a predisposition to anxiety may stem from difficulty or even trauma when you were growing up.

It is also quite usual for problems to come together, having a kind of knock-on effect. For example, difficulties at work can easily lead to anxious feelings. These anxious feelings might cause uncontrollable anger, which then creates tension in personal relationships.

Some issues that prompt people to come to counselling

Alzheimer’s or illness in the family. Being a carer.
Anger.
Anxiety or panic attacks or stress.
Being bullied or harassed.
Bereavement and grief. Other forms of loss.
Career and work problems, redundancy.
Depressive feelings.
Health issues.
Lack of confidence and low self-esteem.
Painful memories from childhood.
Problems with friends.
Questions about career or creative work.
Retirement, or children leaving home.
Separation, divorce and the breakdown of a relationship.
Sexual identity questions.
Sexual problems.
Trauma and abuse.

To find out more about counselling issues, look at the Counselling Directory’s ‘Types of Distress’ page. BACP also has an A-Z of problems on their ‘Helping you With’ page and lists of available counsellors in your area.

Picking up the phone can take courage

It may be something you have thought about for days, months or even years, before you finally pick up the phone and make that call. Getting help and support from a professional counsellor may seem like something only really unwell people might do. Yet it is perfectly normal and becoming increasingly common.