Counseling can simply be sharing your thoughts and feelings in confidence with a trained counselor who is objective and a good listener. This often is helpful when you have a decision to make. Sometimes counseling may help you to change your behavior in order to deal more effectively with a problem. You may become aware of strengths and potentials you can use to your benefit. At other times counseling may help by giving you certain types of information or by teaching you new skills. Counseling may help you to see yourself and others in a different light.

This is not to say that counseling is always easy. Successful counseling may mean that you will become aware of feelings and behaviors that are not particularly comfortable or effective for you. But, with the help and support of a trained therapist, you can learn to confront such feelings and behaviors so that you can make changes that will lead to a more satisfying life. Generally, people come for counseling because they want to feel better about themselves or about their relationships with others.