Counselling doubts

I think a REALLY important aspect of starting counselling/therapy is have a clear understanding of what it is you want to happen.

I have gone into lots of unsuccessful counselling sessions (with various professionals at various times in my life) and the times at the start it was always rubbish and unsuccessful, the reason being because when I went there and when asked what they could do I would reply honestly but without any achievable goals

"I just want to be happy"

"I don't want to be me anymore"

"I don't want to feel so hopeless with life" 

We would talk, sometimes for months, I'd explain all about my childhood, about every experience I had which has upsetting and traumatic, talk about something that happened that day which really broke me. There was never any conclusion, each session would just be talking.  The way therapists work tend to be client based, so if I went in wanting to talk about X, that's what we'd talk about.

Then I got diagnosed with Autism and things began to make sense, I was so sad, isolated and lonely because I'd spent my life trying to be neurotypical when I'm not.  There were SO many tributary problems associated with that central premiss, it was hard to know where to start.

Things are still hard now, but knowing myself better (thanks to reading and knowing more through meeting and talking to other autistic people), I'm able to highlight aspects I want to work on.

Getting that question sorted is important.

 "I really wanted to get my future sorted"

What does that mean to you?

Blue sky thinking - if you could wave a wand or be granted a wish, what does Mercury's SORTED future look like?  

Then maybe lets make a plan to make that happen, if we start to hit problems that prevent it from happening, that's what can be talked about during sessions (not your childhood).

You might find topics of low motivation, fear, shame, hopefully the therapist can help you work through how those things prevent you from reaching a sorted future

I think a REALLY important aspect of starting counselling/therapy is have a clear understanding of what it is you want to happen.

I have gone into lots of unsuccessful counselling sessions (with various professionals at various times in my life) and the times at the start it was always rubbish and unsuccessful, the reason being because when I went there and when asked what they could do I would reply honestly but without any achievable goals

"I just want to be happy"

"I don't want to be me anymore"

"I don't want to feel so hopeless with life" 

We would talk, sometimes for months, I'd explain all about my childhood, about every experience I had which has upsetting and traumatic, talk about something that happened that day which really broke me. There was never any conclusion, each session would just be talking.  The way therapists work tend to be client based, so if I went in wanting to talk about X, that's what we'd talk about.

Then I got diagnosed with Autism and things began to make sense, I was so sad, isolated and lonely because I'd spent my life trying to be neurotypical when I'm not.  There were SO many tributary problems associated with that central premiss, it was hard to know where to start.

Things are still hard now, but knowing myself better (thanks to reading and knowing more through meeting and talking to other autistic people), I'm able to highlight aspects I want to work on.

Getting that question sorted is important.

 "I really wanted to get my future sorted"

What does that mean to you?

Blue sky thinking - if you could wave a wand or be granted a wish, what does Mercury's SORTED future look like?  

Then maybe lets make a plan to make that happen, if we start to hit problems that prevent it from happening, that's what can be talked about during sessions (not your childhood).

You might find topics of low motivation, fear, shame, hopefully the therapist can help you work through how those things prevent you from reaching a sorted future