If you are feeling or thinking you are the only person who feels confused, worried, scared or that you cannot control your thoughts you are not alone, many young people do not ask for help because they believe that adults may think they are stupid…… YOUR THOUGHTS ARE NOT STUPID.
It is often not until we get older that we understand the links between our thoughts, feelings and our behaviours.
A lot of the work we do with young people is helping them to look at things in a different way. This does take a bit of time and practise, but with some support from us and others around you, it can be done. We may give you strategies and ideas for you to try at home or school.
I also know that some young people worry about talking to adults either at home or at school because their worries are too personal, or they do not want to burden the people they love. A big part about working with a counsellor is what we talk about will be confidential. This means we will not be telling your parents/carers everything we talk about. However, we do need to keep you safe so there are limits to this. We will discuss this with you and your parent/carer in our first meeting. This will make it clear to you the sort of things we cannot keep confidential (private).
So what is counselling and how does it help?
Counselling is a way of trying to make sense of some of the feelings or emotions you have. First, we will spend some time talking about your life. We will work with you by listening very carefully and trying to put ourselves in your shoes, seeing how things feel from your point of view.
Your viewpoint is the most important one….. by REALLY LISTENING and trying to understand how things look and feel to you, we may be able to help you see your situation from a different angle.
If you are not in the process of getting some support, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to find an adult you trust and tell them how you are feeling. If this is not someone at home, most schools have a person who can help students, or will know someone who can. Please don’t suffer alone, there are people that can help you. The telephone number below is free if you feel like there is no one else you can talk to.
Childline 0800 1111 (or visit their website)