ABSTRACT
A professional therapist should be able to give a person a clear, intelligible reply. One might also ask when they last provided counselling for someone in a similar situation. The way questions like these are answered can be a useful indicator of a counsellor’s skills in these areas. Someone counselling for ten years but who sees only one or two clients a week will actually have far less experience than someone seeing six clients a week for half that time. An important factor in determining how successful the outcome will be is how one connects with the counsellor, and the initial conversation one has with them can be helpful in this regard. Although one-to-one counselling is probably the most common, difficulties sometimes arise within a relationship. Troublesome teenagers, the “empty nest” syndrome when children leave home, or the onset of retirement can all put a strain on previously stable families.
