Personal experience of counselling by Liz

31st March 2010

As a result of counselling I feel like I am a different person now.

I remember the anxiety and self-doubt I experienced before receiving counselling. I used to feel so much concern about what other people thought of me. I spent too much of my time worrying. Thinking...does so and so really like me or not?...does my boyfriend really love me?..what have I really got going for me?....and on and on it went.

As I write this, I feel I am describing someone I used to know and am even more aware of just how much I have changed.

With my counsellor I gradually forged a trusting relationship, realising that no matter what I shared, she continued accepting me and believing in me. I suppose what happened is that I borrowed a bit on her view of me, after a while it sort of rubbed off on me. In the safety of our relationship I began to see where some of my negative views came from.

I actually like myself now. It's not that I always feel happy, sometimes I get a bit anxious or insecure... but it passes. I bring myself back to this basic belief that I am fundamentally alright and my life and my relationships have been transformed by this.