Frequently Asked Questions
How long will I have to go to counselling?
The short answer to this question is that some people will spend as little time as six weeks in counselling while others may spend years. The reasons for the difference in time scales depends on a number of factors. These factors include the issue the client brings to counselling. Some people have deep seated issues that will take longer to explore. Secondly it depends on the motivation for being in counselling, some just want to deal with a problem in their lives while others will come to counselling with a few to realising their full potential and becoming more self aware and they see counselling or psychotherapy as a way of achieving this. Counsellors themselves will often go regularly to counselling or personal therapy as they prefer to call it with a few to stay fully self aware and therefore be much better therapists. But there are many other factors. For example it might take a long time for some clients to trust a counsellor before they will really begin to disclose about themselves.
Will I have to tell my counsellor everything?
You disclose or withhold from your counsellor as you see fit. What might be interesting to look at though is why you are withholding from the counsellor. It could be because you are ashamed of who you really are or it could be that you don’t trust your counsellor. You might not trust your counsellor because you feel him not to be trustworthy or it might be that you find it difficult to trust. But it might be useful to think of counselling as a process of growing in self awareness and sometimes the best way of really becoming fully self aware is to talk about yourself to an “other” in a place that is safe from judgement and that is confidential. So sometimes it is worth taking the risk to really become self aware.
How much is a counselling session?
A counselling session costs €70. A session lasts about 50 minutes. It is usual to pay the counsellor at the end of each session. In some cases by prior arrangement if an employer is paying for a set number of sessions this can be paid for at the end of the agreed number of sessions.
What kind of issues do you deal with?
Gerry Farrell is trained as a generic counsellor. This means he can deal with a wide range of issues. These include Bereavement, relationship problems, stress, abuse (including physical, mental and sexual), occupational bullying and obsessive compulsive disorders. This list is not exhaustive. A generic counsellor is more interested in the way you manage issues than what the issue is. This is called your process.
What is CBT?
CBT is the short for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. In this kind of counselling the therapist or counsellor will focus on the client changing his or her thinking and behaviour. It is often a more short term form of counselling.