I HAVE STARTED DEEP INTELLECTUAL HEARTRENDING personal-inner-pus-spilling counselling sessions!I use such language because most counselling "dynamics" seem to operate upon the premise that human beings are all traumatized. We are all like boils who need our pus massaged, oozed-out and cunningly extracted.
Counselling, I have always thought can transpire as an almighty waste of time. At one extreme it can be like gazing at one's own eyes endlessly in a mirror indulging in the marvel of how beautiful they are; at the other, you can use the sessions as an outlet to complain about your life every week for 50 minutes flat, do nothing at all about it and return next week to complain again. In the middle, perhaps one might find a place where one might learn and grow. How on earth you learn or grow when the counsellor does little more than clarify what they think you've said and "reflect back" beats me: but if you're willing to put in some welly, it somehow does appear to bear fruits. 
My last experience of counsellling wasn't very happy. The counsellor said I turned up to one session and curled up in the foetal position crying for an hour. But I don't remember this. (But I do recall being very upset.) She kept saying she thought I needed more help than she could give me, which didn't make me happy. She was talking about psychiatrists and I've never trusted their dogmatic interpretation of the extremes of human suffering. I just think a lot of them are there to pay their credit cards, cars and mortgages. But aren't most people??
Well I'm going to give this thing a go. Apparently you DON'T have to bee absolutely and 100% opiate and -oid free to benefit from counselling's understated (or unstated) delights. So as I say I'm giving it a bash ~ and who knows what might "transpire" ...??PS the gin-reference is to my new Spanish counsellor's name. I never did get a hold of it, but it sounds something quite like JUNIPER ... as in those bitter berries that Gordons, The Bombay Sapphire Company et al crush into gin ...
PS See that Juniper berries pic top lefthand corner and see why most gin tastes of pine-fresh toilet-cleaner..!
Apparently, gin IS just juniper berry flavoured vodka.
ReplyDeleteI think counselling can help if you are intent on helping yourself. I think it requires a huge trust in the person who is supposed to be guiding you...
Hi Gleds~~~ At least give it a go.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be thinking more clearly and wanting to get on with your life, so please try. It just might be the time for you to recover.
Thanks for your comments and when I was at school, many many years ago, I was taught to spell flavour and colour, But now I mostly drop the u.
I prefer chocolate to Life-savers anyway. Take great care my friend,
and please do your best for those of us who care for you.
Praying for some good news Gleds,
Very Best Wishes, Merle.
I never found much guidance given in therapy. Like stated in the post, it seemed to be an hour of complaining followed by next week's hour of complaining, followed by next week's hour of complaining, followed ... well, you get the idea. I never seemed to get anywhere.
ReplyDeleteWell it's worth a try, you never know it may just be the exact thing that helps you. I hope so. x
ReplyDeleteJEANNIE: yeah ~ it's being expected to spill when THEY tell YOU NOTHING about THEM!! that gets me ...
ReplyDeleteMERLE: I heard American spellings really are taking off in Australia. I don't quite get why, I always thought British ones looked prettier on the page. Having said that both are historically authentic. I was quite surprised to see a facsimile of a letter in Elizabeth I's own hand at Hatfield House, talking about "rumors" about her "honor" ... which just goes to show ~ English is one language and I wish we could have one system of spellling
AD: the only way I managed to get anywhere past that was by noting what "revelations" I seemed to come to and working on them BETWEEN sessions. Which is easier said than done. I think if anyone's an advertisement that Therapy really doesn't necessarily work it has to be Woody Allen ~ I mean look at him! A life shaped by days, weeks months wasted in that Therapeutic Office ... know what I mean ...
AKELAMALU: aye I will. But they only give you 12 weeks, which I know from previous experience of counselling, is hardly going to be enough ...
You could try the HannibalLector Quid Pro Quo tactic? Can't do any harm Gleds. Hey you spill on the blog to complete strangers how hard can it be?
ReplyDelete"Hi:
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for our website
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Thanks
BAINO: o no I don't mind spilling. I just have some reservations about counselling and how effective it might be ... but I'm willing to give it another bash. I wasn't so delighted to hear it's only 3 to 4 months and they give a small extension but I might get referred to Deep Psychotherapy ... how cool is THAT ha-ahaa!!
ReplyDeleteSHOWTIME: Hi I'm always flattered to get spam. Where does it come from? How does anyone know about little old me? Where on earth would I have written about Little Old Christine??? C'mon!
I never liked gin. I got blasted on it once and never tasted it again. I can remember smelling the juniper berries in my parents yard as a child. Ever since getting drunk on gin, I've not been able to get too close to those juniper berries. Brings back memories of being very sick.
ReplyDeleteSomeone once gave me about half a pint of gin which for some stupid reason I drank down in five minutes. Then felt surprised that I was so drunk I could see five of everything. I was very sick too.
ReplyDeleteTo me gin is just perfume-flavoured vodka. & no wonder they called it "Mother's Ruin": Nasty business all round.