Published on 12, July, 2020
I had what I consider my final session today, it's not her, it's me. It's on me to fix my problems and move on now.
I wish I could have addressed my rejecting of my autism in the past, my repressed sexuality, or my general disappointment in humankind, but alas those subjects were perhaps beyond her charity mandated training. (Mind Swansea)
I just reiterated the same junk and she and I just didn't connect at all. 50 minutes is a small window so I couldn't delve into the stuff that mattered and I said my goodbye over email.
Also I'm tired of talking about myself and the person on the other side of the room not giving a ***. A paying client more than a person. I might as well take a vow of silence and stay in the background.
Please don't try to convince me to try again, I have been pushing my luck with the local services for years and I've just about run out of chances.
ExplodingHeads said:those subjects were perhaps beyond her charity mandated training.
I would steer away from counsellors in general as they are not really the right tool to use for autism processing. Therapists are the way to go or possibly a psychologist for more serious issues.
To understand the differences, have a look at:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/therapy/psychologist-vs-therapist-vs-counselor
It will help to manage your expectations as to how much they will "care" about you. They will express a professional level of care but are trained not to get involved / invested in you at the level you may want. They are more likely to be goal oriented which is probably what you need (as opposed to what you want).
It is a bit like expecting a gentleman expecting a lady of negotiable affection to "care" about them after their time is up - they can do a great job during the session but both parties need to know what they are getting when going into it, and it does not last beyond the (happy?) ending tme.
Iain, you do realise that the website you quoted is American, don't you? Whilst that information might be useful to Americans that use this site, it isn't representative of the situation here in the UK or in other parts of the world were they have their own training and regulatory requirements.
Counselling in this country is covered by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the UK Council for Psychotherapy. A simple google search will bring both of these organisations up as the first two options.