Counselling may help you to work out what to do about your problem and you are likely to find that just sharing it with someone else will make you feel better.
Talking to a counsellor is different to confiding in a friend, teacher or someone in your family. The counsellor has no connection with any other part of your life and they will not criticise or judge you, or try to make decisions for you.
You are completely free to share your thoughts with them and they will not tell other people what you have said. Occasionally a counsellor may be told something that shows the person they are talking to is in danger, if this happens the counsellor may have to tell someone else so that the person can get help. If the counsellor is thinking about doing this, they will tell the client first and discuss what should happen.
Usually people come for an hour on the same day each week for at least 4 weeks, but they can come just once if they feel that is enough, or for months if they want to.
Counselling is having a private conversation with somebody who is trained in helping you to make sense of your thoughts and feelings so that you can decide what you want to do about whatever is worrying you.
The counsellor will focus on you and how you feel, they will not tell you what to do or make decisions for you. Don't be afraid to tell the counsellor exactly how you feel, they will not be shocked or angry. They will listen carefully to what you have to say then help you to understand what might be confusing or hard to explain.
The counsellor will not give you advice because we believe that actually you are the best person to know what is right for you, it's just that sometimes it can be hard to get things straight in your mind and then have the confidence to make a decision. The YouthLine counsellor will help you to do that.
What kind of problems can we help with?
Once you feel you know what to do, we can get more help for you by putting you in touch with other agencies that specialise in your type of problem; for example if you need somewhere to live we can give you the phone number of your local housing association, or if you decide you want to tackle a drug problem we can put you in touch with your local drug agency.
