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The Five Undeniable Benefits of Counselling

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In our society, counselling often comes across as something unnecessary, and it is deemed to be for those who are "weak" or have "mental problems". I wonder how long more this stigma of having to go to counselling sessions would stay in the minds of most people nowadays in Malaysia.

It was reported in 2018 by The Star Online that the prevalence of mental health issues among adults above 16 years old is 29.2%, which is 4.2mil of Malaysians, living with mental health issues.

I would like to highlight this fact because we now know that mental health issues are getting serious, yet, people still would not talk about counselling openly. There is nothing wrong if you would like to seek help from professional counselling. In fact, counselling is not just for people living with or suffering from mental issues, but for anyone. Whether you are facing a difficulty in life, or just seeking for new insights and self-improvement, ANY individual could benefit from therapeutic, effective counselling sessions. 

Having been to counselling myself and studied counselling, I have reaped long-lasting benefits and gained unforgettable experiences from the sessions (even though it has been two years). Here's what I've found out from my experience.


The Five Undeniable Benefits of Counselling

1. Counselling enables you to express and align what has been going on in that complex mind of yours. You will have clarity of thoughts.

Having someone who does not know your background and history, thus not going to judge you, and as he or she listens to your thoughts attentively, it makes you feel heard and understood. It also clears up some mental blocks that might have been hindering you to move forward. Perhaps some kind of negative self-defeating thoughts or irrational beliefs that are hindering your growth. Sometimes you have so much going on in your mind, messy and indecisive, you may be in a blindspot, you just can't decide which career to go for, whether you should marry this person, and so on. It clears your thoughts, and you will be able to act confidently and make actions based on your priorities after you have sorted out your thoughts. 

2. Counselling enables you to manage your emotions, and to express them, which would lead to emotional healing.

Many of us do not know how to properly deal with emotions, especially intense emotions, such as anger, guilt, hatred, deep sorrow and hurt. Most of us might hide from them, choosing to bury them, only having to see them turn worse as they would pile up little by little and then one day explode when triggered. The counsellor would be the non judgmental, listening and empathetic professional helper to hear your emotions out and to help you manage them by using effective theoretical techniques. When one deals with his or her intense, buried emotions from past experiences, catharsis - a release of strong emotions occurs, the person will be healed, and able to move forward and deal with life victoriously, not being dragged by the burden of those emotions. You will realize how much you have been stuck in your mind and actions because of pent up and unreleased emotions. This is because emotions cause us to form strong belief patterns in our mind subconsciously, which in turn would affect our behaviours. Counselling helps you to release and manage those emotions. And even until now, I could remember I went to one of the counselling sessions feeling anxious of my studies and life, but the feelings that I reaped from the counselling sessions were - peacefulness, clarity, assured, accepted. 

3. Counselling gives you different perspectives and gives you insights in your problems or in your life.

As the counsellor is neutral in opinions and would not give advice to you (it is unethical to give advice), the counsellor would draw points from what you have said yourself, asking and probing deeper into what you have shared, and then as you think about those deep questions, you discover insights and things you have not thought of before. Hence, it will lead to a change in beliefs, emotions and actions, and it will leave a long-lasting effect as these insights are from you alone! 

4. Counselling helps you to have greater depth of self-awareness, improve self-esteem as you grow personally and spiritually.

Counselling helps you to discover more about yourself with the help of the counsellor. As you gain clarity of your thoughts, emotions, and about the sources of difficulties that you are facing, you will come to know who you truly are, such as your preferences, dislikes, values and habits. The counsellor walks with you in this journey of self-discovery. You then move towards self-improvement and self-development. You will come to know deeper truth about yourself, such as what have caused the difficulty that you have been facing as you look into it deeply, not blaming others for the consequences. You take control of your choices and responsibilities. You grow. You learn. You discover who you are. You accept who you are. 

5. Counselling helps you develop a healthy lifestyle when you have a healthy mind, spirit and emotional management.

People who suffer from addictions could benefit from counselling, as they unravel the factors that have caused these addictions. You never know if it is an unreleased, old intense emotion or unmet need deep inside of you that have caused the addictions. You will find out "what in the world is wrong with my mind even though I know this habit is bad but I still wanna do it". Addictions can be overcome as counsellors adopt theoretical techniques to help you in your thoughts, emotions and behaviours. And even if you do not have any addictions, as you attend counselling sessions, you reap the emotional and mental benefits that would help you to form new, healthy behaviours that last. For instance, exercising regularly, sleeping early and not indulging in unhealthy habits. This is because your convictions, thoughts, insights and directions, they come from you yourself!

These are what I have gained, and seriously my outlook has changed because the insights and perspectives that I have gained were from my own. The counsellor only helped to facilitate my thought process, and she did it professionally. I'm sure there are more benefits than this, feel free to drop a comment if you have any to share :)

Remember, there is nothing wrong in seeking help from professional counselling. Do something good for your self-development. Take good care of your mental, physical and emotional health. I'm sure you will gain tremendous results from effective, therapeutic counselling sessions.

 Sincerely yours, 
Kim
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Licensed Counsellor

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Kimberly Kong Zhi Ee
Selangor, Malaysia
Master of Education in Guidance and Counsellling (UPM, Malaysia) Bachelor of Science in Human Psychology (LJMU, UK)

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