How does counseling make a difference?

  Some people ask, “How does counseling help people change? The usual phrase is “helping people help themselves”, where the counselor, through contact with the visitor, allows the visitor to eventually come out of the inner struggle on his or her own. I often say to my visitors: Everyone walks on their own unique path in life, sometimes it is a flat road, sunny and relaxing; sometimes it is a muddy mountain path, pouring rain and hard trekking; at this time you need a helping hand. At best, the counselor plays the role of a crutch, accompanying and supporting you on a certain journey, and when you get out of the mud, you have to throw away the crutch, and everyone has their own answer as to where to go.  Some people say, “I don’t know where I’m going, I don’t know what career to choose, who to marry, whether to leave or stay …… counseling has another important role: to make people understand themselves better. At this point, it is as if the visitor is lost and needs to hire a counselor to explore with him or her and take a “spiritual journey”. When they get out of their misunderstandings and take the journey in their stride, they don’t need a counselor anymore. The counselor is busy going his or her own way, and there is a constant need for someone to “lead the way”.  The exploration of the mind is a difficult task. Each person’s life is unique, and if the visitor does not know what he or she needs, how can the counselor know? This is more laborious than “providing a crutch”, as if it were “surgery”, a difficult task to be done in a sterile operating room psychiatric clinic; the visitor needs to be well prepared and sign a “consent form for surgery This difficult work is done in a sterile and sterile operating room psychological clinic; the visitor needs to be well prepared and sign a “consent form” – a consultation agreement; the counselor needs to be highly skilled to complete the “surgery” and the visitor’s psychology is changed.  Counselors and psychotherapists are working with their own hearts, they need to have a sound heart and abide by the professional code of ethics. The scalpel can save lives when used in the operating room, but it can also kill if used indiscriminately. It does not mean that the counselor is mentally sound, but at least he is climbing up and improving himself. The higher and farther the counselor himself stands, the higher and farther he can lead the visitor.