Stigma around Counselling

Psychological Counselling and Therapy always invite the frowns… Somehow, its associated with people being crazy or mad. And in a world full of “perfect people”, therapy is needed by those who are weak and cannot manage themselves. Are these facts ever accurate !!! Lets give it a good thought…

Our lives have drastically changed to what it once was in the 80s and 90s. There is a lot more competition in all fields, competition not only between peers but also between friends, a child growing up is monitored ground up till he is independent and gets a job, comparisons between siblings and a lot more. Survival in such a competitive environment is not the same anymore. Naturally, this puts pressure on the mind and it cries out for help; but by NO MEANS does this imply that someone is crazy or weak and unable to manage himself/herself. This is where a trained Therapist comes in – his/her role is to help the individuals deal with such changing environments, cope up with life and ultimately provide meaning and goal to ones sheer existence.

The stigma associated to this however, is that the whole concept of “helping people” buds from weakness and inability to manage ones life. This is not true ! Life is a lot more than just a mere association to adaptation. Getting an extra hand at things will only make things better and easier. In today’s fast pace lifestyle, there are those high up on the food chain that do not need support systems, and these are the people who would always frown upon counselling and therapy. Simply put, look at it as if you were helping a baby learn to walk, he’s only learning to cope up with the surrounding; he isn’t any lesser than anyone of us.

In a country like India, this stigma is persistent in almost all parts, however in the last decade, this has slowly changed for the good. Men and Women deal with lots of issues that are commonly seen around such as marital problems, job choices, childhood troubles, managing growing kids, divorces and many more.. Psychological counselling is a positive step to deal with such issues.

Years ago, when I first got myself into Psychology, this stigma did get the better of me.. Head loaded with questions about how to help people if they really dint need my help.. How to guide someone to solutions if they never accepted that they lost their way in the first place.. But I knew the world had to change and evolve someday as it evidently did quite a bit in the recent past. My journey of becoming a Psychological counsellor has been eventful with a combination of my own problems that needed help with some others around me yearning counsel (interesting life lessons).

To sum it up… A counsellor is able to help in all such areas that need support – Psychological Counselling | Mental Health Counselling | Couples Counselling | Career & Vocational Counselling | Academic Counselling. All that is required is to take that bold step forward to open your minds to paradise.