What is psychological counseling?

Psychological counseling is a process of support and guidance provided by a professional in the field of psychology to help people overcome their life difficulties and achieve their personal goals. It involves a relationship of mutual trust and confidentiality where the client has the opportunity to explore and better understand the issues they are facing.

Unlike therapy, the focus is on advising the client on the problems or concerns they present with.

Counseling objectives are usually practical, concrete, and applied to the person's life context. Basically, in this process, I, the counselor, support the client in solving life problems in a pragmatic, goal-oriented way.

How do you know if counseling is right for you?

Counseling can help you with a variety of situations or needs, such as:

• Adapting to a life situation that cannot be changed, which probably came suddenly and causes suffering (e.g.: separation from a partner, terminal illness, death of a loved one, etc.)
• Considering aspects of life that will change
• Managing emotions and stress. Counseling can provide a safe space where clients can express and understand difficult emotions associated with life situations. Here you can learn stress management strategies and relaxation techniques
• Considering various modes of action to bring about change in life
• Needing and offering different perspectives
• Finding meaning and direction in life. I offer support in exploring personal values, interests, and life goals. Through therapeutic discussions and exercises, I help my clients clarify their direction and develop an action plan to achieve their goals.
• Self-knowledge and personal development. I provide a suitable framework for exploring the self, one's own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. By increasing self-awareness, you can develop a better understanding of who you are and how you can grow and develop personally
• It brings positive change if you are ready to make an effort to transform your life, but you have no idea how to do it, and you feel stuck

Counseling is an individualized process adapted to the needs and goals of each client.

By creating a safe relationship, I work together with the client to identify the right solutions and strategies so that they can overcome their difficulties and achieve their personal goals.

Through this service, you can gain a better understanding of yourself, develop healthy adaptive skills, and improve your quality of life. Thus, in this process, it is possible to offer my opinion, advice, or a recommendation, all of which takes place with a lot of support and empathy, taking into account all the individual aspects.

How can counseling help you?

Following the counseling sessions I provide, you can benefit from the following:

• Clarity
• Develop your own management mechanisms for stress and problems
• Finding solutions for the presented problems
• A better understanding of your own behavior, your thoughts, and feelings
• Useful information for your problem so that you make your life decisions well-informed 
• Support during periods of transition or crisis to get through them well
• Resolving internal personal conflicts or with other people
• Releasing oppressive secrets
• Setting more daring, but also realistic life goals, so as to achieve them
• Regaining control over your life

Psychological counseling is NOT:

• Counseling is not a process of providing solutions and direct advice.
• The fact that I counsel you does NOT mean that I tell you what to do or what you should do!
• I can help you see what your options are, but the choice is entirely yours! I support you, whatever your choice, and I'm by your side even when you don't have the power to make the ideal decisions!
• Counseling is NOT about persuading, imposing, or overcoming the client's resistances, or "bringing the client to reality"!
• Persuasion has no place in psychological counseling. You, as a human being, will have to choose for yourself what you want to do with your life.
• Counseling is not magic therapy where healing occurs instantly. It takes time, patience, and, most importantly, your commitment in order to get results. 

There are no magic quick fixes in counseling, but the process can be extremely beneficial and transformative in the long term.

• Counseling does NOT mean influencing or manipulating! Influence is generally unconscious. There is a difference between exploring alternatives, suggesting solutions, and manipulation. Manipulation invariably leaves the recipient feeling uncomfortable, used, and angry.

After the counseling sessions, you should feel supported, encouraged, and have a new perspective.

What else should I know about psychological counseling?

Psychological counseling is generally short-term compared to psychotherapy, which can go over a few years.

The sessions last 50 minutes, and according to the synoptic guide of the Romanian College of Psychologists, for an adult who presents himself voluntarily, there is a recommendation of a maximum of 16 sessions.

During or following this process, you may be recommended long-term psychotherapy services, referral to medical services, or clinical psychology (for a psychological evaluation).

Psychological counseling is very similar to coaching but differs in some aspects related to the specialist's professional skills, approach, and ethical code.

For example, counseling focuses on exploring emotions, past experiences, and factors that influence a person's present and future. On the other hand, coaching focuses more on the present, achieving goals, and developing practical skills to achieve success in a particular field or area of life.

The approach is broader in psychological counseling than in coaching because a psychologist must consider the whole context of the person, including emotional, cognitive, relational, and social aspects. In my capacity as a counselor, I work in an integrative way, combining different techniques and therapeutic approaches to adapt to each client's unique needs.

Although some coaching schools are very prestigious and offer good training, there are also very affordable schools; requirements and standards in education vary widely, depending on the organization. In general, a coach does not necessarily have an academic background in psychology or psychotherapy, although they may have experience or knowledge in the field of psychology. The main focus of coaching is to help clients achieve their goals and maximize their personal and professional potential. Coaches often focus on developing skills and improving performance in a specific area.

A counselor with a bachelor's degree in psychology usually has a high level of academic and practical training in psychology, as I have. For example, I went through years of undergraduate psychology and earned a bachelor's and master's degree in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, and psychotherapy.

During our studies, we psychologists, are exposed to a wide range of psychological theories, therapeutic approaches, and clinical practices. We learn to assess and diagnose mental disorders, provide individual and group therapy, and address the psychological and emotional issues of our clients. Psychotherapists and clinical psychologists also undergo supervised practice under the guidance of an experienced psychology professional.

It is believed that a well-trained psychologist must consider the complexity of human nature and the psyche, and not just learn the concrete steps of the counseling process. He is also familiar with the rigor of the deontological and ethical codes specific to the profession. I also mention here that the law also provides for this ethical code in Romania, closely following the European standards and the APA (American Psychological Association) standards, while the coaching profession does not have any such regulation for now.