Counselling occurs when a counsellor sees a client in a confidential setting to explore a difficulty the client is having, distress they may be experiencing or perhaps their dissatisfaction with life or loss of a sense of direction and purpose.
In counselling sessions the client is enabled to explore various aspects of their life, talking about them freely and openly in a way that is rarely possible with friends or family, to a person who neither judges or says what to do. Once trust has been established the counsellor will encourage clients to look at aspects of their life, their relationships and themselves which they may not have thought of or felt able to face before.
By listening attentively and patiently the counsellor can begin to perceive the difficulties from the client's point of view and can help them to see more clearly, possibly from a slightly different angle.
This might be followed by consideration of the ways in which things could be changed. The counsellor may set out the options open to clients and help them follow whichever they choose.