23/08/2023
With the summer almost over and only two more weeks before the children return to school, where did the time go, and where did the summer go. Those who work in education are now starting to plan for the new school year with new classes, new children, and new challenges. Parents who have had to take time off work to look after their children through the summer holidays return to work full-time.
There will be those parents who are feeling worried or anxious because either their children are starting school for the first time in year R or their children have moved from primary school into secondary school and are starting there for the first time. Both these are challenges parents have at some point, and they come with worry, anxiety, stress, concerns and other emotions and feelings.
Other parents will feel anxious about their children starting a new school, maybe due to a move into a different town or county or through a planned school move. Again, this is another challenge for parents, and the same worries and concerns will be there.
As parents, there are so many thoughts and emotions that go through our minds at this time of year as our children work their way through the school years. Soon, though, they will be old enough to go to college and university, and that will bring a whole new set of emotions and feelings as they start to think about moving away to a university at the other end of the country or at least a two or three-hour drive away.
All these worries and concerns we have as parents are natural, and every parent goes through them at some point as their child grows up and progresses through education. However, when you throw in the stresses of running the house and all the chores and to-do lists that you have, as well as working full-time and the stresses and to-do- lists at work, it is important that you keep track of your stress level and your mental health and that you take time out to evaluate your mental health and make the changes needed to stop it from escalating and becoming a problem.
If it becomes a problem and your mental health is causing you to struggle with the normal day-to-day chores, then it is time to speak to someone who can help you get back on the right path. Counselling should be a safe place for you to be able to talk about the problems you are facing, the stresses, the worries, the concerns. Counselling should be a safe space and non-judgmental space. The counsellor should not judge you for feeling the way you do or judge the things that have happened to cause you to need counselling. Some people need counselling because of things that have happened that are not their fault; they never asked for those things to happen, and therefore, a counsellor does not judge you for the traumas, illnesses or other reasons why you have come to seek counselling. Counselling is a safe space, a non-judgemental space; it is also a confidential space. A counsellor will have a confidentiality policy that they should share with you on your initial or first session with them. They should talk you through the policy, highlighting certain events that, by law, a counsellor has to break confidentiality. A counsellor should also have a supervisor with whom they talk about their caseload and should also treat their supervision session with confidentiality by only giving the minimal information necessary regarding their client and then discussing the main areas they are talking about and the way that the sessions are going, the supervisor will advise the counsellor of anything that they feel could work to help the client, the supervisor may say that the counsellor is helping the client sufficiently and to keep going as they are. Supervision is a place where counsellors talk to their supervisors so that they can best help the client. This is classed as good practice within counselling.
Why have I shared this? Well, quite simply, many people find it difficult or daunting to approach someone for counselling. People may feel that they will be judged as a bad person, someone who cannot cope, weak, and other negative thoughts go through their minds. If you are struggling and you feel you are not coping, then counselling is the place you need, and making that first step in approaching a counsellor for help shows that you accept that something has caused you to feel the way you do and that you have recognised that you need some help which is a massive step and a positive step. It shows a willingness to change, and it shows an inner strength to deal with the problems that have brought you to counselling.
If any of this triggers thoughts or emotions within you that think that this may be you or you know someone who is struggling to cope with their day-to-day life, then I urge you to drop me a message, make an enquiry through my webpage, and I will respond as quickly as I am able and arrange a meeting time over zoom or in person where we can chat and make the first steps into arranging regular sessions. If you are at this point thinking about it and finances are of concern, please still make contact, and we can also discuss this in our first meeting. There is always a solution and a pathway open to you.
www.darrenpatiscounsellingservices.co.uk
