My first counselling experience

For those wondering if you want to use the university’s counselling services, here is what I learned.

As a student blogger who has been addressing mental health and encouraging students to use related services, it is ironic that I had never used those services before. This time, however, because I realized I could not cope with the problems by myself, I decided to contact the university’s counselling support and attend the session for the first time.

I acknowledge that sharing my experiences in counselling is unusual, and I do not intend to share the contents of that session. But if you are willing to attend the session in the future and wondering what it is like, here are some reflections from my experience:

“What are the issues that you have?”

The first question that my counsellor asked me in the counselling session was about what brought me there. Before I talked with them, I always thought that there was only one big problem that I had to overcome and did not notice the importance of categorizing my mental problems. Having the counselling session, however, helped me to clear my mind and made it easier to think about those problems separately.

“Why are you feeling this way?”

Based on those categorized issues, my counsellor also helped me to sort things out and figure out why I am feeling this way as well. Having a conversation with them, I realized that my anxiety toward some specific topics affected my mental state forcing me to do something that I did not want to do, preventing me from focusing on tasks ahead. Understanding this contradiction, I believe has helped me to overcome my challenge and act appropriately.

“Do you know this resource available?”

Because some of the topics that I shared with my counsellor were more appropriate to be dealt with outside of the counselling office, she suggested contacting some services available at the university. There were some services that I had never heard of before and this session helped me to become aware of them. Through my counselling, I could see a clearer way to overcome my challenges and feel more at ease to look at problems happening around me.

If you are at all curious, I encourage you to contact the Counselling Support at the university as well. Remember it is free for all University of Adelaide students and open all year.