We each have a constellation of connections to those we are forever attached, and maybe a considerable amount of what, and who, we gather up, becomes assigned to the past; but much of our past is very much alive in our present!
I had considered training as a counsellor many (many) times, and even though I may not have taken a straightforward route, there has been a running thread which holds a significance in its own right in contributing to where I stand right now.
As in any puzzle, pieces join together to complete a picture. Training as a counsellor was a piece that was missing for me. With this in mind, deciding to train as a psychodynamic counsellor was as much to do with my own sense of exploration and self-understanding, as it was to do with becoming a skilled practitioner in the counselling profession.
Psychodynamic in nature
Training in Psychodynamic Counselling is a training like no other, as it is personal. It does not lead to a counselling qualification alone, but invites and engages us to bring ourselves to the theory, bring ourselves to the reflections and to the essays, and ultimately to the work. Making ourselves available to be curious; to readily accept that although we each bring a broad range and depth of life experience and knowledge – because not one of us is just one thing – we can gain much more by being prepared to learn from each other. Perhaps even, to be comfortable in feeling insecure about beliefs we may have held about ourselves, which might have felt like immovable certainties. In a nutshell, to be open to other possibilities. Being able to see things from a different perspective, enables a change in our understanding and outlook; it is a dynamic, it is movement from one place to another. Being open to change is a helpful starting position.
The Therapeutic Relationship
This position of openness is also an important consideration in working as a psychodynamic counsellor. Being open to another persons thinking and feelings, and being available to respond to the unique experience presented by the person we are working alongside, contributes to the relationship becoming one that is therapeutic.
Psychodynamic counselling in nature examines both conscious and unconscious values and processes, which as counsellors, we also possess. Self-understanding is an important component of psychodynamic counselling work. Being in our own analysis or therapy is an essential part of the training.
Training in a group
My training group has been so very important, and an absolute highlight of my training. It was wonderful to be in a group to think ‘together’, enabled and facilitated by the theory and skills tutors. I really valued this ‘inter’ aspect of the training – the relationships formed with, and between, those you train with. Insights arrived at between people, which I suppose is the essence of counselling work.
Working as a Psychodynamic Counsellor
It has been so worthwhile. Working as a psychodynamic counsellor is an immense privilege and holds such positive value; being in a position of exploring together with someone, life’s meaning and concerns, with all its restraints and freedoms. When meeting someone new, you both change.
