Feeling apprehensive about seeking counselling?

Did you know that approximately a third of people who require mental health support attend counselling or mental health services? We know there is a stigma attached to accessing counselling and people often don’t attend for these three most common reasons:

1. Financial – assumptions that therapy is long winded and expensive
2. Feeling embarrassed or weak – counselling is taboo in some cultures
3. Not wanting to feel like there is something ‘wrong with you’

It is quite natural and expected to feel apprehensive about booking and attending a counselling session.  It is an unknown and often a weird concept, especially if you are attending for the first time.

It is important to remember that sessions are always confidential (unless there is an immediate risk of harm) and all of our practitioners are non-judgemental and want to help.

You can expect: 

• Curiosity, NOT advice
• Feeling understood, NOT being judged
• Strategies, NOT just a friendly chat
• To be treated like a human, NOT a patient

Here at Take A Step, we are aware of these barriers and passionate about removing the stigma.  We take great pride in being as welcoming as possible, in fact it is embedded in our company values.

TAKE A STEP COACHING – CORE VALUES

1. Doing mental health better

TAS brand is all about doing Mental Health better, the current system is okay but not as helpful or efficient as it could be – and it certainly isn’t doing enough to remove the stigma. Two thirds of people are still not accessing support.

TAS is all about offering a welcoming, warm approach to support all people including those who aren’t accessing support due to stigma/barriers. TAS is passionate about easily accessible and innovative mental health services, and making people feel like humans not patients.

2. Humans NOT patients

We see our clients as human beings who are struggling with life’s challenges (we all have a bit of HUMANITIS) not ill, disempowered patients. This is an important distinction as it helps us feel empowered, heard and understood.

3. Natural process

TAS takes a genuine and more authentic approach. Humans are meant to be outside and immersed in nature. The outdoor, nature based, walking sessions enable a more relaxed and more natural process.

The session setting is natural and less synthetic. It assists people to feel more at ease and automatically provides a sense of wellbeing.

Empowering interactions

At the end of every session, clients will feel more empowered than at this start of the session, having more ‘tools’ in their personal ‘toolbox’ to deal with those life challenges. The goal is to share knowledge, teach strategies, and in turn clients can become their own experts and share their new knowledge with their friends, family and networks.

Finally, some common thoughts around counselling are: ‘what advice can this person give me? or ‘I don’t want to appear weak’, ‘how can this person help me?’ We address these normal and common concerns in the ‘common myths about counselling‘ article.