Wellness Counselling

Many clients contact me when they are in great distress or in crisis and when the crisis has faded they continue on with their lives. Some of my clients recognise that, like going to the dentist for your teeth or the gym for physical fitness, check ins for mental wellbeing can be supportive to maintain mental wellness. These clients check in from time to time for a top up of support and the benefits are that there is less likelihood of falling into a crisis situation again due to awareness and keeping their mental health in good shape. The therapist becomes the co constructor of meaning making with the client to ensure optional possibilities of maintaining wellness despite the events that inevitably  come into all of our lives. 

As therapists we all have someone to turn to as a support person. Even the most experienced therapists will have a professional go to person. In life the fortunate among us will have good support from family and friends, however even the best of this type of support is not the same as a professional supporter. As with a fitness instructor a wellness supervisor for the whole of our mental health well-being is able to offer a different type of aid and support. 

Sometimes  knowing  back up resource is available is enough and  visits become less and less frequent. This is ultimately an aim of the counsellor, ie to make themselves redundant. That does not mean however that the role of wellness supervision needs to stop. Often people have spurts of getting really physically fit and maintain that fitness until something happens to interrupt the routine and the fitness is easily diminished . 

Checking in for a tune up is something we are all familiar with in a number of areas, the dentist is an obvious example and prevention is always better than having to deal with the fallout of not having properly maintained good oral health. If we wait until we have a tooth ache chances are the consequences will be much greater. Checking in with a wellness supervisor to review our state of mental health can prevent crisis and ensure we are taking the best care that we can. A wholistic approach to wellness is in my view essential and this includes our diet including supplements for optimal health, our exercise regime, our social system our mental health and our spiritual wellbeing. 

Have you had a tune up recently?