We are all products of our past, it shapes and defines us but it should never confine us. My past is what has bought me to this point in my life. This point being embarking on opening my own counselling practice.
Seven years ago I was faced with a devastating situation in my private life that caused me to rewrite my future. It was a devastating time but like a phoenix I rose out of the ashes and decided that life wasnt like a box of chocolates but was in fact a basket of lemons…and what you do with the lemons is up to you…me I chose to make lemonade…and occasionally a gin and tonic!
My lemonade in this instance was that I decided to become a counsellor…dont get me wrong it wasnt really that easy, it actually involved a lot of soul-searching, a lot of pain and a truly horrid period in my life, but I came through it with the determination to become a counsellor.
I signed up to a ten week certificate in counselling and found that I loved it, that I had found what I was looking for. I finished the course and immediately signed up for the next course, a level 3 BTEC Diploma in counselling at Lincoln College. There I met some wonderful friends who remain so now and also a tutor that was someone I not only could admire but liked to boot. For two years on a Wednesday I sat and learnt about the theory of counselling and fuelled my desire further to become a counsellor. But not just any counsellor, I wanted to put in place a network for parents and carers of sexually abused children. I wanted to help the parents who were raising survivors of abuse and help them to help their little survivors. I had found not only my lemonade but my silver lining too.
The course wasnt always easy and it challenged me to look at who I was, who I wanted to be and how others saw me. It made me cry, laugh, want to scream, quit, succeed and all manner of emotions but I persevered as I had a goal one I was determined would succed…and I still hold that goal and im one step closer I hope.
But back to my study overview. After the level 3 course I signed up for the level 4 course at Lincoln College. Now this course was a nightmare of disasters and suffice it to say it was awful,(it’s a post for another day) but again I persevered and along with my friends, some of which were from the last course I graduated with a distinction in the higher Professional Diploma in Counselling.
Towards the end of the level 3 course I sought out my first counselling placement, partly in preparation for the next course which required 100 hours of supervised placement and partly because I knew that the time was right for me. I joined Listening Ears (Now Lindum Listening Ears) a bereavement counselling service in Lincoln. I was mentored and guided on my first steps in counselling, and remained with them for a year, learning and honing my new skills. And with each client I saw I fell in love with counselling more.
I can’t explain clearly the reason I love my job except to say that it is an amazing feeling to journey along a path with someone and see them fly higher and higher until you are no longer needed by them. Counselling to me is walking with someone and holding them as they stumble, helping them learn how to walk without falling or if they do fidnign a way for them to get back up and carry on walking and it really is a privilege to walk with someone on their journey and watch them walk taller and taller. Dont get me wrong, sometimes it really is hard work and sometimes you aren’t able to help… but when you can it really is an amazing experience to say goodbye.
I’m going to leave this post there for now but I will post more soon continuing my journey to private practice.
http://www.lincoln-counselling.co.uk/
Seven years ago I was faced with a devastating situation in my private life that caused me to rewrite my future. It was a devastating time but like a phoenix I rose out of the ashes and decided that life wasnt like a box of chocolates but was in fact a basket of lemons…and what you do with the lemons is up to you…me I chose to make lemonade…and occasionally a gin and tonic!
My lemonade in this instance was that I decided to become a counsellor…dont get me wrong it wasnt really that easy, it actually involved a lot of soul-searching, a lot of pain and a truly horrid period in my life, but I came through it with the determination to become a counsellor.
I signed up to a ten week certificate in counselling and found that I loved it, that I had found what I was looking for. I finished the course and immediately signed up for the next course, a level 3 BTEC Diploma in counselling at Lincoln College. There I met some wonderful friends who remain so now and also a tutor that was someone I not only could admire but liked to boot. For two years on a Wednesday I sat and learnt about the theory of counselling and fuelled my desire further to become a counsellor. But not just any counsellor, I wanted to put in place a network for parents and carers of sexually abused children. I wanted to help the parents who were raising survivors of abuse and help them to help their little survivors. I had found not only my lemonade but my silver lining too.
The course wasnt always easy and it challenged me to look at who I was, who I wanted to be and how others saw me. It made me cry, laugh, want to scream, quit, succeed and all manner of emotions but I persevered as I had a goal one I was determined would succed…and I still hold that goal and im one step closer I hope.
But back to my study overview. After the level 3 course I signed up for the level 4 course at Lincoln College. Now this course was a nightmare of disasters and suffice it to say it was awful,(it’s a post for another day) but again I persevered and along with my friends, some of which were from the last course I graduated with a distinction in the higher Professional Diploma in Counselling.
Towards the end of the level 3 course I sought out my first counselling placement, partly in preparation for the next course which required 100 hours of supervised placement and partly because I knew that the time was right for me. I joined Listening Ears (Now Lindum Listening Ears) a bereavement counselling service in Lincoln. I was mentored and guided on my first steps in counselling, and remained with them for a year, learning and honing my new skills. And with each client I saw I fell in love with counselling more.
I can’t explain clearly the reason I love my job except to say that it is an amazing feeling to journey along a path with someone and see them fly higher and higher until you are no longer needed by them. Counselling to me is walking with someone and holding them as they stumble, helping them learn how to walk without falling or if they do fidnign a way for them to get back up and carry on walking and it really is a privilege to walk with someone on their journey and watch them walk taller and taller. Dont get me wrong, sometimes it really is hard work and sometimes you aren’t able to help… but when you can it really is an amazing experience to say goodbye.
I’m going to leave this post there for now but I will post more soon continuing my journey to private practice.
http://www.lincoln-counselling.co.uk/
