Stress Counselling

In counselling, you will feel acknowledged and validated as you describe your experiences that lead you feeling stressed. Feeling stressed might include feeling rushed or pressured, uncomfortable or uneasy, and/or overwhelmed. To understand this better we’ll identify your inner conflict/s and unhelpful response patterns as well. We’ll start developing an understanding of how you are with yourself: you cannot change what you are not aware of. With stress, often comes self-blame or guilt. By understanding your specific ways of dealing with stress and its impact on your daily life, we’ll then work towards identifying and implementing the response patterns that are helpful instead. You might become more aware of the tension that your body holds too. Thus, becoming more aware of your physical symptoms and fine tuning your understanding of them, will allow you to begin making changes internally.

Many individuals experience stress due to a lack of time or having an overwhelming number of responsibilities at work and/or at home. Feeling rushed or pressured can create an internal conflict where something in you may have you struggling with the pressures of time-lines. You might feel rushed or you have a tendency to push yourself to get things done fast. As you progress in therapy, you will learn how to access your internal space where you can find refuge regardless of the pressures the world around you constantly throws at you.

One way to reduce stress is to devise a daily routine of self-care that specifically suits you and your schedule. For example, paying attention to nutrition, factoring in regular time for exercise, working out ways of being self-nurturing and of relaxing, and finally establishing good sleep patterns, all contribute to improving your sense of well-being. In therapy, I’ll invite you to implement these in a way that works for you. Furthermore, we’ll take a look at how you relate to yourself, especially those aspects of yourself that you do not like or find difficult to be with.

As you progress in stress counselling, you might find you take two steps forward then one step back. This is normal and might feel like relapsing into your old ways of handling stress. I will therefore focus on helping you to anticipate potential stressors and plan for them. This process aims to encourage you to take a moment to pause and to listen to your inner self. It will help you to develop ways of taking care of yourself long term and when you most need to. As the world continues to rush by and push or pressure you we’ll set up regular follow-up sessions if needed in order to monitor progress, address any setbacks you’re experiencing, and provide ongoing support and guidance when you need.