If you are struggling with emotional distress, professional counseling will be able to help. Counselors can help you identify underlying problems and issues, as well as assist you in finding the best ways to cope. For example, a counselor can show you healthy ways to change behaviors that may be contributing to your problems. Counseling can also help you identify constructive ways to deal with a situation that is beyond your personal control.
Counselors offer help in addressing many situations that cause emotional stress, including, but not limited to:
For many people, deciding to see a counsellor is the first step to feeling more in control of their lives. Acknowledging that you need help or support doesn’t mean you are weak, self-indulgent or crazy. In fact considering the ever growing demands of the modern world, where many people constantly juggle family and work commitments often without the benefit of traditional support networks of previous generations, counselling could be seen as a necessity rather than a luxury.
Emotional problems don’t go away by trying to ignore them. In fact we are increasingly recognising the link between psychological and physical health.
Suppressing strong feelings can lead to such symptoms as sleep disturbance, headaches, aches and pains in other parts of the body and lack of energy. It can also lead to unhealthy behaviour such as drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders and destructive or codependent relationships.
Counselling and psychotherapy can help you to accept yourself as you are and also to make the changes that you want to make your life more satisfying and to help you reach your potential.
Hopefully you may find an answer to the prayer
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can’t change; the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference” Reinhold Niebuhr (1892 - 1971)
Often people begin to get in touch with their inner strength and empower themselves in different ways. Many of the limitations and inadequacies that we experience have been taken on board in order to hide or deny our true selves when they would have been too challenging or risky to show to the world as we grew up. To quote the words of Nelson Mandela’s inaugural speech as president of South Africa:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking. So that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. Its not just in some of us its in everyone. As we let our light shine we consciously give other permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”