Making the Call for Counselling

You deserve to be listened to.

I think I've seen the infographic about reasons to go to counselling about 100 times-how you can explore yourself and figure out what it is that's been eating at you, explore your emotions, or talk about the problems of the week. And beyond that experience of trauma. That's definitely what counselling can be.

• We can talk about trauma, and the experiences that that brings and create meaning around it.

• We can talk about your relationship and we can meet in all of these different places.

The infographic is great, because I think it normalises so many of the different reasons why somebody might reach out. But we often don't talk about how reaching out can be hard and scary. How we tell ourselves that we're not worthy, or somebody needs the spot more than we do. Or, you know, I'm fine, it's all in my head.

But that pain that's in your head is real. That suffering, that sickness of being stuck in the same place over and over again, is real.

The truth of the matter is you do deserve a spot, you do deserve somebody who will listen to you and validate you and hear your experience and witness what it is that you do.

If you've been considering counselling because:

• your life has changed drastically in the last two years, and you don't know what that means,

• you've been in pain for years and years and years

• you're depressed or anxious

• there was something that was really horrible that happened to you

We will look to understand where your pain comes from, where your stress comes from, where that anger comes from.

Please know you are so worthy of having that story listened to.

Alysha Plaggemeier

(Psychotherapy/Counselling)