What is counseling?                     

It is confidential?

Types of counseling

Conditions in which counseling is helpful

Benefits of counseling            

Process of counseling

Counseling schedule

What is counseling?

Counseling is a process that facilitates better personal and interpersonal understanding & functioning. It relates to issues of life from childhood to old age focusing on emotional, intellectual, social, vocational and health related development. It has following major components –

• Better understanding of self and world around.
• Less distress & better adjustment through more effective coping skills.
• Realization of self potential & better quality of life through more effective functioning.

Counseling provides a safe and free platform which allows you to discuss & explore yourself and your life in an atmosphere of privacy, trust, respect and warmth along with psychological expertise of counselor. It provides an opportunity to vent out your feelings, to explore your positive & negative aspects, to discuss problems and to explore better options without any threat of being judged or ridiculed.

In short counseling helps in living a better life.

It is confidential.

Counseling is entirely confidential. It is not necessary for you to reveal your details like real name, address, place of work etc. The life incidents and relevant information reveled by you remains only between you and your counselor. It is never discussed or shared with anyone under any circumstances.

Types of counseling

• Emergency – It helps in urgent cases of threat, psychological catastrophe, rape, accident etc.
• Distance Counseling (Online Chat / Email / /Telephone) – It helps those who are unable to visit clinic for in-person counseling. Also See – ECounseling Clinic
• In – person (in clinic) Counseling
  • Children & Sibling Counseling
  • Adolescent Counseling
  • Student Counseling
  • Professional / Career Counseling
  • Counseling for Men
  • Counseling for Women
  • Pre Marital Counseling
  • Marital / Couple Counseling
  • Sex life and Sexuality Counseling
  • Personal issues Counseling
  • Family Counseling
  • Social and Relationships Counseling
  • Old age / Geriatric Counseling
  • Spiritual Counseling
  • Health Counseling
  • Stress and anger management Counseling
  • Grief / Anxiety / Depression Counseling
  • Counseling for unwanted thoughts / feelings / behavior
  • Problem & Solution Focused Counseling
  • Self Management & Self Growth Counseling
• Specialized Counseling
• Life Skill Counseling – It helps people specially kids and young adults to learn life skills for better living.
• Life Management Counseling – It helps people to have a re-look at life in an objective manner and reorganize with better life management for better living. Read More
• Relationship Counseling – It helps in all relationship issues like incompatibility, cheating, discords, sexuality, breakup etc.
• Pre Marital and Marriage Counseling – Ethos offers specialized pre marital and marriage counseling. It is very useful in solving discords and creating a happy home.
• Family Counseling : A specialized counseling which involves disorders in family balance, dynamics & functioning irrespective of the number of family members involved. Issues could vary from family roles, relationship discords, illness, finance, decision making, alcohol / drug abuse, ‘generation gap’, ‘empty nest’ etc. It can be taken by some or all family members.
• MasterMind It is a unique Mind Development Program for children & adults created by Dr S K Sharma after years of research on the functioning and development of mind.
• It helps in development of mind & brain.
• It improves functioning of mind like intelligence, concentration, memory, study & learning skills, creativity etc.
• It improves efficiency of mind and helps in multitasking.
• It improves self control & gives emotional stability. It prevents and helps in psycho-emotional complaints.
• It removes mental conflicts and complexes.
• It creates organized, calm, efficient, sharp and powerful mind.
• It helps in achieving confidence, success and in realizing best of self potential.

Conditions in which counseling is helpful

Some of the conditions are :

Difficulty in studies            Family discords               Anxiety                              Poor time management                          Grief                                      Sibling rivalry                         Depression                        Uncontrolled anger / violence

Lack of confidence            Marital discord                      Stress                                Unhappy sexual life

Unwanted thoughts            Inferiority Complex                Loneliness                         Alcohol / Tobacco addiction

Job Stress / Growth               Sex addiction                         Homosexuality                    Poor self esteem

Eating disorders                      Drug abuse                           Broken home                     Victim of sex abuse

Love disappointment               Poor Health                          Financial crisis                    Behavioral problems like stealing

For major anxiety, depression, phobia, mania, obsession, schizophrenia and other psychiatric diseases, see Psychotherapy.

Benefits of counseling

• It improves your ability to understand and analyze yourself, the world around and the difficulties faced by you.
• It helps you to explore better options, grow in life and realize best of your potential and success.
• It helps to adjust better, resolve problems & crisis and move on in life.
• It helps in your search of self identity and self worth.
• It improves confidence, communication skills and give a positive personality.
• It helps in developing positive relationships, happy family and avoiding discords.
• It helps in releasing negative emotions, frustrations and increasing satisfaction in life
• It improves ability to plan, take decisions, face challenges and become more dynamic.
• It helps in removing stress from life, feeling good, being peaceful & relaxed and living more fully.
• It helps to remove negative thoughts / feelings / behavior and develop positive thoughts / feelings / behavior.
• It gives you a true friend who is non judgmental, objective and supportive with a feeling of trust, respect and warmth.

Process of counseling

The process of counseling is called the therapeutic process where the counselor and counselee share a relationship of trust, respect and warmth. In this the role of person taking counseling begins before that of counselor. It is important for the person to come to counseling free from prejudice and wrong notions. He or she should have open mind and free from thought that ‘nothing works in life’. Counseling should not be seen as a threatening place where one can be judged, criticized or ridiculed. It is not about fault finding or pushing you to any particular thought or behavior decided by the counselor. A good counselor will help you in removing these false beliefs. A good counseling provides you an atmosphere of privacy, confidentiality, ease of mind, respect, trust and warmth along with the psychological expertise of counselor to help you to freely explore yourself, give vent to your feelings, re-look at situations in a relaxed & objective manner, explore possible options & ways and learn more effective strategies in life.

Counseling schedule

Counseling can be divided into three schedules.

• Single session counseling.
• Short term counseling ranging from 2-3 sessions to frequent sessions for about 3 months.
• Long term counseling lasting months and even years with need based unscheduled sessions.

It can be individual, couple or in group. Counseling schedule depends on the need of the situation and person concerned. Short term counseling is for situations which require immediate attention and long term counseling is for sustained growth & prevention of relapse. It is possible for a person to take short term counseling for immediate need and later switch to long term counseling for persistent improvement

A counseling session can be of 30 minutes to one hour. It can be longer as sometimes it is necessary to continue with the counseling process specially if it is in some crucial moment. The first one or two sessions are usually about information gathering which forms the basis of further sessions and direction of counseling. You can decide about the frequency of sessions.

Contact Us if you have some query and to book an appointment.

Our life is a rare gift of nature. It is a divine blessing. Accept the life as it is. Life is precious as it gives you opportunity to live and grow as a human being. So live every moment of your life fully.

Life is beautiful and it remains beautiful if you understand it and learn to manage it. It gives you choice of letting things happen or turning the circumstances favorable by sensible discretion. Organize your life with discipline and healthy lifestyle. This little investment will fill your life with happiness.

Learn to live stress free. Every one’s life has moments of happiness and sadness, good health and sickness. Take the ups and downs of life in positive spirit. Be alert to identify risk and take sensible steps to minimize them. Fear of bad will only make your life miserable and will hinder your enjoyment of good time. If something happens, face it and again take sensible steps to minimize damage and early recovery. If you want to enjoy game of life, do not be scared of losing, just play with true spirit.

Learn to live in present. Sometimes we waste precious moments of life brooding about past or worrying about future. The value of past is to learn from it and grow. Future is nothing but outcome of our present thinking and living. Present is life. Live the moments of present to best of your ability and enjoy them. Poorly lived present will soon become bad past.

Whatever happens in life is not by accident but by combination of some factors. Some of these are under our control and some are not. Do not create stress for yourself by worrying about uncontrollable factors but manage circumstances by bringing about positive change in controllable factors. For example growing age is not under our control but being prepared for comfortable old age by healthy living, sensible planning and adjustment to changing circumstances can make your life smooth and pleasant.

Good health is very helpful for a meaningful and happy life. But good health does not come automatically. It requires understanding of causes of sickness. Neither getting too much worried about sickness nor being casual about health is good. One can live healthy life by minimizing sickness causing factors and improving health promoting factors. Make yoga and meditation part of your life. Organized life & good lifestyle goes a long way in giving you good health.

In every person’s life two aspects play very crucial role. One is family & social relations and other is vocation / profession. One can create a happy life by nurturing them in one’s life. Both require good management to help them grow as a strong support system in life. Human relations require good communication and mutual acceptance. One should be sensitive to read the chemistry of relationship and take appropriate measures to avoid any strain in them. Vocation / profession too require careful selection and planning to be a strong support. Your profession can help you financially, socially and can also give you psychological satisfaction.

And what to do in difficult and ‘not so happy’ circumstances? First of all, prevention is better than cure. So try to manage life to minimize such state. But if it still occurs, you can still find a way out. In stressful / anxious moments, do not try to avoid it and do not imagine dangerous outcome. This will only increase your anxiety and hinder your ability to find a solution. Think about the possible solutions. Take professional help. Be solution oriented in place of being problem oriented. Do not give up or get disheartened. Have faith and pray. Work on solution with strong belief. As a long term measure, give your life a meaning, a purpose. This will motivate you to keep going even in difficult times.

Life need not be a bed of roses but it can be a pleasant experience even with ups and downs. It has its certainty with element of uncertainty. By managing life to avoid major difficulties and by enduring difficult times, one can grow as a stronger human being, mature and capable. And that is the completeness of life.

Dr. S. K. Sharma

The counseling process is a continuous, cyclical model in which the counselor and client collaboratively set goals, formulate actions plans, and assess progress toward the goal(s). Throughout the process new information is integrated, the counselor-client relationship is developed, and progress toward counseling goals is reassessed. It is the utilization of special skills to assist and motivate individuals, couples, and families in achieving short and long term emotional and behavioral objectives. The number of sessions or length of time in therapy is determined by the client’s progress or in some cases, lack of progress, which generally translates to client “dropping out” of counseling.

The counselor must develop an overall awareness of the entire counseling process across a number of interviews. In consultation with the supervisor, students will be asked to approach the model presented here by concentrating on particular points in the model during each semester, and relating these to the overall process.

The counselor may also employ a variety of techniques to help you understand your feelings. For instance, the counselor may ask questions designed to reflect back to you your thought processes and to help you make sense of your feelings. The way we think has a great deal to do with how we feel and how we experience things. You might explore and implement changes in the way you do things, and that then can go on to enhance your life or your relationship.

Expectations of the Counseling Process

You can expect to meet with someone who is interested in listening to your concerns and in helping you develop a better understanding of them so that you may deal with them more easily and effectively. If you have any questions about your therapy, by all means ask. Counselors have no magical skills or knowledge, and will be unable to solve your problems directly for you. If you have any questions about the limits of confidentiality, please bring them up with your counselor.

Counseling is a type of talking therapy that allows a person to talk about their problems and feelings in a confidential and dependable environment. It is a chance to talk over what is on your mind with an objective person. S/he can help you learn new skills and ways of looking at situations so that you will be more capable of solving problems on your own.

Counseling can often involve talking about difficult or painful feelings and, as you begin to face them, you may feel worse in some ways. However, with the help and support of your therapist, you should gradually start to feel better.

Counseling can be used to treat many different health conditions including:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Drug misuse
• Borderline personality disorder (BPD)
• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Long-term illnesses
• Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia

A common factor in most counseling situations is that the client is demoralized, distressed or otherwise in a negative state of mind about something. Counseling can be for one person or a group (typically couples and families) and may be delivered through a number of methods, from face-face dialogue, group work, telephone, email and written materials.

During your counseling sessions, you will be encouraged to express your feelings and emotions freely. By discussing your concerns with you, the counselor can help you to gain a better understanding of your feelings and thought processes, as well as identifying ways of finding your own solutions to problems.

Counseling is particularly common at transition points in a person’s life, where they are moving from the familiar to the strange, going from child to adult, single to married and so on. These changes can be difficult and the counselor can help their client successfully make the change, both emotionally and cognitively.

Confidentiality is a set of rules or a promise that limits access or places restrictions on certain types of information. It is an essential part of the counseling relationship. To maintain confidentiality, a counselor must explain the benefits and problems inherent in counseling services and clarify the limits of confidentiality to the client.

Patient confidentiality means maintaining private information about a client, and ensuring that no unauthorized person has access to this. A counselor or psychotherapist must also seek a patient’s consent before discussing any disclosed matter with a supervisor or more experienced counselor.

In order to maintain client confidentiality a counselor must be aware of certain important procedures. These can only be maintained if a counselor accepts full responsibility for a client.

Throughout the client-counselor relationship it is the counselor’s responsibility to:

• Ensure a client’s confidentiality is not breached.
• Provide the same level of care and support to a client, regardless of the client’s background.
• Maintain up-to-date client files and notes.
• Support the client, and where necessary request the additional support of colleagues or more experienced counselors, to ensure the client’s counseling needs are fulfilled.
• Process, and provide, up-to-date additional information and resources that may be useful to a client.

All aspects of your participation in clinical services at the Counseling & Mental Health Center, including the scheduling of appointments, content of counseling sessions, and any records that we keep, are confidential as outlined by federal and state law.

Counseling is a collaborative effort between the counselor and the client. Through counseling you can examine the behaviors, thoughts, attitudes, and feelings that may be causing difficulties in your life. You can learn effective ways to deal with your problems by building upon your own unique personal strengths. Counseling can also help you identify constructive ways to deal with a situation that is beyond your personal control.

Counseling help in many ways, such as:

• Identifying goals and potential solutions to problems that cause emotional turmoil
• Improving communication and coping skills
• Improve family relationships
• Identify negative or illogical thinking patterns that contribute to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness
• Develop a more positive outlook.
• Explore learned thoughts and behaviors that create or maintain problems.
• Regain a sense of control and pleasure in life.
• Encourage support from family and friends.
• Find solutions to life’s problems.
• Discover personal strengths and how to use those strengths to grow stronger in other areas.
• Strengthening self-esteem
• Promoting behavior change

With a counselor we can brainstorm on options we hadn’t thought of or don’t know. By giving us information and coaching, counselors can show us how to manage anger, communicate our needs more clearly, negotiate for change, and soothe our own anxieties.   There is no set amount of time that can be prescribed to a particular issue.  The counselor together with the client can best determine if only one session, a few sessions, or a much longer period is required.

 Reasons to use online or phone counseling            What is Phone or Online Counseling

In what conditions it is helpful

Is it different from face to face counseling

Benefits of Phone or Online Counseling

How can I take Phone or Online Counseling

Many people find turning to the Internet for Online or Phone Counseling to be a great way to deal with their problems. Like in traditional counseling, online or phone counseling provides individuals with direct access to experienced professionals. In addition, online or phone counseling is convenient, effective, and affordable and most of all available 24 hours a day, from the privacy of your own home.

Reasons to use online phone or Ecounseling

• You have a very busy schedule and have difficulty making a face-to-face appointment.
• You live in an area where there are few or no therapists available to address your particular concern.
• You have a fear of going out into public and would be more comfortable receiving counseling online.
• You have privacy concerns and are uncomfortable that someone might see you at a therapist’s office.
• You want access to a therapeutic medium (such as email counseling) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• You are disabled or physically incapacitated, and making the trip to a therapy office is limiting your ability to get counseling services.
• You feel you would have a greater degree of privacy and safety by engaging with a therapist from the comfort of your own home or office.
• You are concerned that talking about your issues face to face could be embarrassing or intimidating

What is Phone or Online Counseling

Phone or Online Counseling is a very personalized type of counseling making good use of modern internet technology. It is same as Face to Face Psychological Counseling with the only difference that it is done using phone, online live chat (messenger) or email.

In what conditions it is helpful

It is helpful in all those conditions for which you look for counseling. Some of them are given here.

Unhappiness / Depression           Feeling stuck in life           Difficulty in Decision making

Poor Time management                Family discords                                  Anxiety

Grief                                                Sibling rivalry                                    Stress

Anger / violence                          Lack of confidence                         Broken home

Marital discord                               Sex addiction                              Homosexuality

Unhappy sexual life                    Victim of sex abuse                  Love disappointment

Unwanted thoughts                     Inferiority Complex                          Loneliness

Alcohol / Tobacco addiction           Drug abuse                              Eating disorders

Difficulty in studies                   Job Stress / Growth                       Poor self esteem

Poor Health                                  Financial crisis                            Kids Upbringing

Behavioral problems like stealing, lack of responsibility, pornography, gambling etc.

Is it different from face to face counseling

It is very similar to Face to Face Counseling. In addition it provides extra privacy and convenience. See benefits of Phone or Online Counseling.

What are the benefits of Phone or Online Counseling

There are certain unique benefits of Phone or Online Counseling. Some are :

1. Privacy –  Although Face to Face is entirely confidential, still some people want it to be more private. Phone or Online Counseling offers complete anonymity.
2. Opening Up – Phone or Online Counseling enables people to open up their inner self without inhibition or fear. This helps in counseling process.
3. Convenience  – Phone or Online Counseling is more convenient as it can be done from your own office, home or any other place of your choice. It saves time and money on traveling. It can easily fit into your busy schedule. It is even more convenient in urgent odd hour sessions.
4. Stay in touch  –  Phone or Online Counseling helps you to stay in touch with your counselor even if you are traveling or have relocated.
5. Non accessibility  –  It is highly suitable for those who are not in a position to visit counselors personally like people in old age, physically challenged, people in remote areas or place where they are unable to find counselors.
6. Phone or Online Counseling is a therapy in itself. When you write your complaints, it helps both as catharsis and by better understanding of the problem.

How can I take Phone or Online Counseling

All you need is access to internet. You can book your appointment, make payment and take your sessions online. Sessions are taken on mutually convenient time. You may also use email counseling. Contact Us for further details.

• Do you find yourself in a situation where you feel the need to discuss it with someone who can listen to you with patience, help you in understanding it thoroughly and suggest different options to overcome it quickly and effectively.
• Do you have an important decision to make but unable to do it.
• Do you feel stuck in life with no possible way out.
• Do you find it difficult to initiate and manage relationships.
• Have you ever been abused emotionally physically or sexually.
• Do you suffer from substance abuse addiction and find yourself helpless.
• Do you feel stressed but still can not do anything about it.
• Do you feel or told by others that you have too much anger.
• Do you find it difficult to understand or manage own emotions, thinking patters, life circumstances or self defeating behavior.

This or any other difficulty in your life which is bothering you and affecting happiness or growth of your life can be managed by effective counseling by a good counselor. Since 1994 Dr S K Sharma’s Counseling Clinic is helping people in New Delhi NCR by In-Clinic Counseling as well as people from all over India and other countries by counseling also known as online counseling or distance counseling.

Dr S K Sharma holds recognized medical and psychological counseling qualification. He is a licensed practitioner since 1994. He holds post graduation in psychological counseling, psychotherapy and clinical psychology. He has helped thousands of people around the world in overcoming difficulties and living a happier life.

Major areas where psychological counseling and online counseling helps :

1. Counseling for stress management
2. Counseling for decision making
3. Counseling for relationship management at home, office, social relations, intimate relations etc.
4. Marriage or marital counseling.
5. Pre marital counseling
6. Family counseling
7. Counseling for personal growth and development.
8. Counseling for conflict resolution.
9. Counseling for career growth or professional problems.
10. Counseling for conflict resolution.
11. Lifestyle management counseling.
12. Time management counseling.
13. Counseling for anger management.
14. Counseling for depression, grief, divorce.
15. Counseling for poor self confidence

Options of modes of counseling available at Counseling Clinic.

• In Clinic Counseling
• Online Counseling
• Email Counseling
• Telephone Counseling

Online counseling or counselling is also known as counseling, internet counseling, chat counseling, cyber counseling, distance counseling, etherapy, internet therapy, chat therapy, cyber therapy, distance therapy, epsychology, internet psychology, chat psychology, cyber psychology, distance psychology etc.

Advantage of eCounseling

• It is immediately available.
• It is convenient.
• It is cost effective.
• It keeps anonymity and privacy.
• It is available from everywhere.
• It continues even if you relocate.

How to make payment

You may pay by credit card or online transfer. Go to Quick Pay or Contact us for details.

Do You :

• Do you feel your marriage is going in wrong direction
• Do you feel that the love between you has been lost somewhere
• Do you have frequent arguments and discords over major or even minor issues
• Do you feel your partner is cheating on you or there is infidelity
• Do you feel there is incompatibility between you
• Do you feel you are over possessed or you have no say or self choice
• Do you feel you lack intimacy, emotional connection and commitment
• Do you feel you are having too less or too much sex
• Do you feel there is lack of communication or there is improper communication in relationship
• Do you have violence in relationship – verbal, physical, sexual or even emotional
• Do you feel divorce is the only solution

If yes, there is hope and solution. This can be overcome. Conflicts do not mean that a marriage has failed. Conflicts are natural part of every marriage. They only mean that they have not been worked upon adequately. This is where marriage counseling, also called marital counseling, helps.

My approach – Since 1994 I am counseling couples and helping them to rediscover the spark. My belief, based upon years of experience working with married couples, is that the only difference between a successful marriage and not so successful marriage is not the presence or absence of conflicts but it is the fact that how well the couple works upon the conflicts. How they nurtures & enhances the relationship, the chemistry and yes, LOVE. We have successfully helped couples to move from the brink of divorce to a very healthy and strong bonding. As I always say love never dies or gets stale, it only goes out of focus.

Career counseling is a process that allows you to explore, discover and connect with your inner self with respect to your job and career in one-on-one meetings with a Counselor. The goal of Career Counseling is to give you the opportunity to begin exploring the elements of a career that make sense or seem to fit for you.

Career Counseling is an excellent way to address issues such as:

• Understanding self to select best career
• Developing career plans
• Interview anxiety
• On job anxiety
• Changing careers
• Psychological issues related to career
• Harassment, sexual and emotional
• How to get maximum success
• Confidence, inferiority and career
• Soft skills in career
• Office politics
• Getting out of career mess
• Leadership skills

Career counseling involves meeting with an appropriate counselor who will ask a variety of questions about your life plans and career intentions. They will also discuss factors that are likely to influence your decisions or that could affect your goals. Answers to the questions will hopefully assist you in realizing your career objectives. A counselor will ensure you are setting realistic targets for yourself and help you choose a career to suit your expectations and not others. If you experience pressure to enter a career that doesn’t appeal to you, you will probably be less motivated in the job role. They will also make sure you have as much information possible about the path you are considering and ensure it suits your personality.

Career counseling will help in complete career management to maximize your success. It will also help you in overcoming obstacles and various psychological issues that you may encounter during your journey. It is crucial to handle such issues carefully as they can potentially damage and destroy career. You may also use therapy to stimulate subconscious learning and achieve big high in your career.

Today’s children and teens struggle with many common counseling issues, such as depression, eating disorders, broken relationships, suicide, and peer pressure, to name a few. Counseling children and adolescents is often different from counseling adults, though the objective is the same. Methods used in counseling children and adolescents often depend on the clients’ age, development stage and individual challenges.

Teenage is the precious time which is to be cherished throughout life. Child and teenage counseling helps the young people who are not able to deal with their issues. Parents who feel that their children are displaying some abnormal behaviour, can seek help through counseling

A wide range of topics can be addressed in counseling. Some of the topics may include:

• Social skills
• Grief and loss
• Family adjustment
• Depression
• Behavioral concerns
• Learning disabilities
• Coping with violence
• Nervousness
• Trauma
• Abuse and neglect
• School adjustment
• Anger management
• Attentional difficulties
• Cultural adjustment

In the counseling process the counselor will help your child / adolescent identify more effective strategies to deal or cope with their situations. The counselor will help the child / adolescent look at new alternatives or approaches to their problems. The counselor will also help parents identify more effective ways of connecting with their children, positive parenting, disciplining etc.  For parents with adolescent children, the counselor will help the parents deal with challenges of the adolescent phase. Counselors help individuals to find their own answers and make their own choices. They help clients to reduce confusion and gain a different perspective to cope with life’s challenges and make positive changes where necessary.

An addiction is a compulsive, repeated behavior characterized by a complete loss of control and an overwhelming desire to act regardless of harmful consequences that may take place. Addictions take on many forms. Virtually any kind of behavior has the potential to be an unhealthy addiction. However, there are some well-recognized types of addictions that make up the bulk of addictions counseling- drug and alcohol (substance addiction), gambling, sexual addictions, and gaming / internet addictions.

Addictions can allow people a temporary escape from their problems. They are often associated with activities that initially bring pleasure and release from everyday life and pressures

Counseling, also called “talk therapy,” is among the most important ingredients in addiction treatment. A counselor can help an addict to start to understand their emotional needs and face the realities of life with more hope of addressing the underlying problems attached to their addiction. The techniques focus on helping drug and alcohol users change the way they live their lives (their behavior) so they can successfully stop alcohol and drug use and develop healthy, productive lives.

Counselors and therapists teach their addicted patients about addiction, encourage them to make changes in their lives, praise them when they make progress and support them when they run into problems.

The addiction counselor tries to provide the patient with concrete, behavioral options to facilitate recovery. Such options include avoiding those things that trigger drug use, attending self-help groups, and leaving or changing situations or relationships that contribute to the addiction. Addiction counseling works by first helping the patient recognize the existence of a problem and the associated irrational thinking. Next, the patient is encouraged to achieve and maintain abstinence and then to develop the necessary psychosocial skills and spiritual development to continue in recovery as a lifelong process.

Alcohol addiction has existed for many years and is widely known as “alcoholism”. It is a chronic and often progressive disease that includes problems controlling your drinking; this is thought to be caused by a cognitive and physiological dependence that can eventually lead to extensive tissue damage and disease across the body.

If you have alcoholism or you have a problem with alcohol, you may not be able to cut back or quit without help. Denying that you have a problem is usually part of alcoholism and other types of excessive drinking.

To bring life back on track can only be successful if an addict is ready to become sober by taking the help of certified alcohol counselors. Counselors can offer the professional support and guidance that struggling alcoholics need to turn their lives around. The need of counseling is important as the counselors are experienced in providing with proper information about addictions and how to overcome it. An addict will be able to develop a comfortable understanding with the counselor by explaining the reason and causes of such addiction. Such interaction is important as it helps to find out the root cause of all types of addictions.

One of the most effective forms of alcohol addiction is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which tackles patterns of thinking and behaviour in an attempt to break certain emotional or psychological ties to habitual behaviors. By understanding the underlying feelings and thought processes that cause their addictions, alcoholics can gradually learn to control the impulse to drink. Soon, they will find new ways to address their problems and insecurities, without having to turn to alcohol.

Counseling for anger – ETHOS HEALTH CARE

Anger is a normal, healthy emotion. But managing anger can be a problem for many people who find it difficult to keep their anger under control. There are many signs that a person shows when they are out of control when it comes to anger. They often lash out at the person or people who have caused them to become angry. Uncontrollable screaming or crying is often associated with anger issues. Also, when someone is angry they can cause bodily harm to themselves and others.
Those that lose control of their anger need to consider seeking out the help of anger management counseling. It is a necessary part of many individual’s lives.

Counseling for anger management will provide tips and techniques for everyday use. It will help them to learn what is truly triggering the outburst and how to handle situations that infuriate them. Counseling will teach you how to respond to your rage in the appropriate way. You will learn how to express your frustrations constructively. Aggressiveness will be replaced with assertiveness.

Anger counseling is an effective way to fight and win the war against the overcoming emotion. Counseling offers a new and unique perspective on situations that cause anger and gets to the bottom of those situations. Anger counseling helps retrain the brain to reevaluate potentially dangerous situations.

Some of the techniques used in anger counseling may include:

• Teaching oneself to take time-outs to diffuse an anger-inducing situation
• Implementing relaxation techniques such as deep breathing or yoga,
• Engaging in physical exercise to release endorphins,
• Using humor to diffuse dangerous situations
• Other coping mechanisms decided upon in the counseling process.

An anger management counseling professional can help you minimize your anger issues, and help you to live a better life. The goal for these counselors is to help individuals control and eliminate their anger on a daily basis. They will give them the skills and the tools they need to keep and maintain their goals in life without anger.

Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress and fear. It is caused by our thinking patterns. Everyone experiences anxiety to some degree. It is normal and healthy to feel sad or worried about life and its problems and pressures. But when worry casts a cloud over everyday life you may be suffering from anxiety or depression or a mixture of the two.

Counseling and therapy are some of the few types of anxiety treatments that receive a significant amount of research, and whose benefits have been essentially proven in the scientific world. There is more than one type of counseling and therapy. The most established and likely most beneficial is cognitive behavioral therapy. Unlike other forms of therapy, CBT has been consistently shown to benefit all types of anxiety. Other types of counseling include:

• Psychodynamic Therapy
• Holistic Therapy
• Gestalt Therapy
• Existential Therapy
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy

How can counseling help with anxiety?

• Co-manage getting life back to normal
• Help to define and reframe your most common anxieties
• Understand your own limits and triggers for anxiety and stress
• Help to confront and tolerate your fears
• Understanding the effects of your self-esteemand expectations
• Consider the wider context of your relationships and their effect
• Help you to manage and understand anxiety or panic attacks
• Learn to manage your life better through meeting your needs.

Whether it is a matter of making specific changes to your life or situation, or to your reactions and responses to these events, your counselor is committed to identifying and resolving the areas resulting in the overwhelming stress and anxiety so that your may experience greater freedom and joy in life.

Coping with relationship loss can be particularly difficult if the couple has relied on each other as best friends. There are times when everything seems normal within your marriage relationship but you and your spouse know that this is not the case. There is a tension between the two of you that threatens to explode to the surface and neither of you knows why.

Relationship counseling can come to the rescue of a troubled marriage. This is usually a last resort for many couples. They wait until their marriage relationship has disintegrated before they decide to get help. By then it is too late. In order to overcome the various problems that can be faced in a relationship; couples will seek out a counselor to help with their relationship.

A good marriage counselor can help you before things get completely out of whack. Periodic visits can not only help you put the pieces back in place but help strengthen the relationship as a whole. Some marriage counselor’s advice couples to have time dating in order to know one another much better. The couples must be given the chance to know more and discover what the couple likes to happen in their relationship. Dating can be an excellent healing process because it allows both parties to remember the times when they first met and the sweetness as well as the love that was developed between them. It can also bring fun to their lives. Marriage counseling often includes dating as a part of repairing broken marriages.

Listening is the basic principle in counseling. Counselors will listen to whatever things that their client may say and then they provide feedback that will help resolve the issue or give solutions to the problem. They actively listen that is why clients would feel at ease to open up and talk more regarding the things that are bothering them. If only both partners know how to give and take and listen carefully, then there are no broken marriages or broken relationships.

Many people today are struggling from drug abuse. Those who use drugs can no longer control the addiction. While getting you off the drugs physically is often the biggest challenge, you won’t stay off the drugs if they can’t get to the bottom of why you are using drugs. Most people start using drugs because of some other problem in their lives. There are so many institutions and counseling services that they can try in order to move away from their addiction.

Counseling is an indispensable part if a person would like to undergo drug rehabilitation program. During counseling, the counselor establishes a warm, supportive, therapeutic relationship with the client using a variety of skills. Based on the strength of this relationship, the counselor helps the client explore problem areas, set goals and assists the client to work through problems in order to establish a more meaningful and productive life style. The purpose is to help the client in making decisions about his life and enable him to understand the need to take responsibility for his actions as well as their consequences.

Treatment for drug abuse is different for each patient and can include a combination of:

• Motivational interviewing – It is used to help the user realize that change needs to be made on his or her part to get better and live a sober lifestyle.
• Contingency management – it encourages the patient to abstain from drug use
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy – it helps the patients to understand and avoid situations that are most likely to influence them to use drugs.
• Family therapy – family counseling with a psychologist, psychiatrist or addiction counselor may help you resist the temptation to resume using addicting drugs

A drug abuse counselor will help you identify your addiction-related behavior patterns and help you confront behavioral and emotional issues that may be hindering your progress. Counseling can also involve talking about your job, legal problems, and relationships with family and friends. Counseling with family members can help them develop better communication skills and can be more supportive.

Eating disorders are serious health conditions that can be both physically and emotionally destructive. Eating Disorders most commonly refer to Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder. Eating issues generally occur because people develop complicated relationships with food or their bodies that might result in compulsive exercising and overeating or under-eating, rather than allowing appetite and hunger to dictate one’s eating cycles.

Eating disorder treatment depends on your particular disorder and your symptoms. It also involves addressing other health problems caused by an eating disorder, which can be serious or even life-threatening if they go untreated for long enough.

Types of Counseling for an eating disorder

Counseling may last from a few months to years. A number of different methods of counseling are used to treat eating disorders. They include:

• Interpersonal psychotherapy – It focuses on resolving relationship issues that contribute to your eating disorder. This type of treatment may be especially helpful if you have depression along with an eating disorder. It is short term counseling.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy – This type of counseling is also a short-term. it helps you address the thoughts, feelings and behaviors related to your eating disorder. It can help you learn to recognize and change distorted thoughts that lead to eating disorder behaviors.
• Family-based therapy – In this type of counseling, all the family members attend counseling sessions. It is especially useful for parents learning how to help a teen with an eating disorder.
• Group cognitive behavioral therapy – It involves meeting with a psychologist or other mental health provider along with others who are diagnosed with an eating disorder. It can help you address thoughts, feelings and behaviors related to your eating disorder, learn skills to manage eating disorder symptoms, and regain healthy eating patterns.

Most financial problems only get worse unless you seek help. Financial counseling can help relieve your stress, resolve your immediate financial problems and help you plan for the future. Counseling can help in your decision making by exploring the nature of your financial problem.  It’s best to seek help early so your problems don’t get out of control.

Why people need financial counseling

• Having difficulty paying debts
• Having budgeting problems
• Being harassed by creditors or debt collectors
• Facing legal action regarding your debts
• Worried about being evicted from your home
• Dealing with car repossession

Benefits of financial counseling

Financial counselor will help you:

• Analyse and assess your financial situation
• Work with you to develop a plan to improve your situation
• Give you information about credit and debt issues
• Involve you in the process as much as possible
• If appropriate, act as an advocate for you and negotiate with the people you owe money to.
• Refer you to other assistance if necessary

Financial counseling helps people find ways to pay off their debts. The counselors advise their clients by suggesting ways like careful budgeting and management of money. Besides helping the client develop a budget and manage finances, counselors also offer free educational materials and workshops.

The Internet has become a regular daily activity for many people. Just like the use of food, the drinking of alcohol or the purchasing of material things can escalate into misuse and abuse, so can one’s interest in and preoccupation with using the Internet become an addiction.

Internet addiction disorder covers a variety of compulsive Internet activities including the following:

• Cybersex and pornography
• Cyber-relationships
• Online gambling
• Gaming addiction
• Online shopping addiction

Internet addiction symptoms

• Losing track of time while on the computer.
• Isolating oneself from family and friends.
• Feelings of guilt and defensiveness
• Being unsuccessful when attempting to stop or limit your computer use.
• Lying to your family, friends, or supervisor about the amount of time spent on the computer and what you do while on it.
• Feeling anxious, depressed, or irritable when your computer time is shortened or interrupted.
• Physical symptoms like back ache, neck ache, headaches, sleep difficulties, carpal tunnel syndrome and weight gain or loss.

There are many addiction treatments, one of which is counseling. Counseling can help you to examine and change the thoughts and behaviors that may be fueling your Internet Dependence, as well as provide you with healthier coping strategies and support. The ultimate goal of counseling is to help individuals either reduce or stop their addiction all together, depending on their specific needs and goals. A counselor may also use a technique known as cognitive-behavioural therapy, which is a way of changing an individual’s thoughts and behaviours surrounding a certain act or issue. A counselor will work with you to help you make sense of your circumstances, to identify your choices for change and to offer support throughout the entire process.

Counseling is a safe and confidential way of exploring your addiction and the affect it is having on your well-being and fulfillment.

One of the several anxiety disorders is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). At a physical level it may involve communication problems between the brain’s orbital cortex and the deeper structure so that a message or thought becomes ‘stuck’. Low serotonin levels have also been detected in sufferers.

It is one of the anxiety disorders that lead to obsessions that are irrational thoughts and the person with OCD is not able to get rid of it. Thoughts that are unpleasant and unwanted are commonly experienced by the individual that suffers from this mental illness. As a result, the person will often indulge in behaviors that are unusual, repetitive, and even controlling.

Symptoms of OCD

• Checking and re-checking doors, locks or safely features
• Compulsively cleaning hands, surfaces or clothing
• Continually aligning and stacking items in order
• Repeatedly counting or praying
• Depressed mood or guilt
• Intrusive worries about harming or hurting another

One of the best treatments for OCD is counseling.  Treatment includes a combination of professional counseling and medicines. Depending on the severity of your symptoms, your doctor may prescribe both counseling and an anti-depressant. Counseling assists the patient in numerous ways

• The therapist will educate the individual on the mental illness that they suffer from.
• Counselors will talk openly with a patient and listen for clues that identify potential root problems.
• The counseling may consist of changing beliefs towards stressful situations, thus, exposing the patient to what normally lead to their compulsion
• The counselor will also prescribe medications that may assist with the depression that is typically experienced by the sufferer, the unwanted obsessions, and even controlling the compulsions.

In treating OCD, the counselor will do everything that is needed to diagnose the complicated emotional state. Counseling treatment will continue until the patient will be able to resist the compulsive actions or thoughts.

Schizophrenia is a severe brain disorder, affecting the sufferer’s ability to think clearly and decipher fantasy from reality.  It is most commonly manifested through bizarre delusions, auditory hallucinations, disorganized thinking and speech, and paranoid delusions. It may eventually lead to social or occupational dysfunction. Symptoms generally occur in young adulthood and may be diagnosed based on a person’s self-reported experiences and observed behaviors. The exact causes of schizophrenia are still not well understood, however it is now thought that a number (5 to 10, or more) of different genes, as well as many different environmental influences, are responsible for an individual developing schizophrenia.

Counseling Methods to Schizophrenic Patients

• Social skills training
• Cognitive remediation
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy of Positive Symptoms
• Individual psychotherapy

Benefits of Counseling for schizophrenia

Counseling can take place one-on-one or in a group setting.

• It helps you improve your relationships, deal with your symptoms, and meet your goals.
• Group counseling also helps you make friends and learn social skills.
• It includes education about schizophreniaand its treatment.
• It can help you develop life skills such as learning to communicate, managing frustration, and coping.
• It can improve the quality of your life and the lives of those who care about you.
• It helps to develop higherself-esteem, and gain insight to the mental health issues.

Stress is a part of day to day living. It is the result of placing undue expectation or desire upon our self or others. Stress affects each of us in different ways, and it is important to be aware of your unique stress “signals. When you are under stress, you may experience any number of the following:

• Feelings: anxiety, irritability, fear, moodiness, embarrassment.
• Thoughts: self-criticism, difficulty concentrating or making decisions, forgetfulness, preoccupation with the future, repetitive thoughts, fear of failure.
• Behaviors: crying, increased or decreased appetite, “snapping” at friends, acting impulsively, alcohol or other drug use (including smoking), nervous laughter, teeth grinding or jaw clenching, stuttering or other speech difficulties, being more accident-prone.
• Physical: sleep disturbances, tight muscles, headaches, fatigue, cold or sweaty hands, back or neck problems, stomach distress, more colds and infections, rapid breathing, pounding heart, trembling, dry mouth.

There are many ways to manage unhealthy stress in your life. One of the important ways is through counseling. Talking through the issues you are facing with a counselor can help you to deal with any underlying issues that are affecting your stress levels such as low self-esteem. The counselor will ask you some questions that will also help you to realize and see the main root or the seed of your dilemma. Your counselor may also be able to identify your personal stress triggers and can talk you through ways of dealing with them.

Relaxation techniques are often encouraged and are a great way to alleviate tension in both your body and your mind. Mindfulness is another technique being used for stress and depression by many – the concept involves deep breathing exercises and focusing on the present. By eliminating thoughts about the past or future, mindfulness helps reduce unnecessary stress and focuses on the here and now.

A life skills counselor is responsible for providing life skills services to children, adolescents and adults. Life skills counselors work with a variety of individuals in different circumstances and situations. Counselors will begin working with incoming clients by assessing their life skills level and providing a wide range of educational classes and information. Life skills counselors will continuously monitor a client’s life skills progress and continue to provide instruction as needed.

Benefits of life skill counseling

• Individualized treatment plan created for each client
• It will help clients with self-understanding and build their self-esteem.
• It helps them set their future and reach goals.
• Evaluate their life experiences.

Counselors will have to continuously monitor a client’s growth and development, and will work with mostly economically and educationally disadvantaged individuals.

Life Skills counseling offers a variety of services to assist their clients. Counselors continue to develop professionally by participating in training and programs to enhance the understanding of addictions, domestic violence, and other issues that impact lives. Life skill counselors offer guidance to adults who need motivation and direction in their business or personal lives. These counselors help adults focus on characteristics and skills that can shape success.

Personal counseling is a cooperative venture between the counselor and you to help you resolve a personal problem. It can help increase self-confidence, improve relationships, solve problems, achieve educational goals, and make good decisions for emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual well-being.

There can be periods in everyone’s life that one needs an objective perspective and be listened in order to find different ways to cope with issues pertaining to individual, social and academic life. In these periods, you can talk about these issues in a trusting atmosphere with a counselor. Difficulties managing stress, depression, anxiety, grief and loss, identity concerns, poor self-esteem, relationship problems, and loneliness are only a few of the reasons for which people may choose to engage in the counseling  process.

Personal counseling is focused on emotional, psychological, or interpersonal issues. Counselors listen carefully to your concerns and help you reach specific goals.  Reaching those goals sometimes means learning new skills, changing behavioral habits, or learning to view the situation differently.

Advantages of Personal Counseling

• Having support following a crisis or trauma.
• Sharing your thoughts and feelings with a trained person.
• Developing strategies for problem solving, decision making and change.
• Increase self-confidence, assertiveness, and self-esteem
• Develop more satisfying relationships and better communication skills
• Control test anxiety or cope more effectively with stress
• Deal with problems involving alcohol or drug use
• Looking at alternative ways of behaving or thinking.
• Becoming clearer about your concerns and direction.
• Identifying and building on your strengths.

Sexuality refers to a person’s preferences and habits regarding sexual activity and desire. Sexuality counseling can help explore the physical communication and the understanding of what sex means to two particular people.

Sexual counseling includes:

• Learning to relax and eliminate distractions
• Learning to communicate in a positive way what you would like
• Learning nonsexual touching techniques
• Increasing or enhancing sexual stimulation
• Minimizing pain during intercourse

Sex Therapist will help you to work out how to handle the problems you’re having and find a way to move on from them.

Once you’ve made an appointment with your counselor, he will listen sensitively to your description of the problem and gather further information from you to ensure that any suggested treatment meets your needs. You will start to see your sex therapist on a weekly to fortnightly basis. All of the work you do in the therapy room is based on talking; however, you are also given homework to do with your partner in the privacy of your own home.

Sex Counseling aims to help you deal with and overcome issues that are causing pain or making you feel uncomfortable during sex. It can provide a safe and regular space for you to talk and explore difficult feelings. The counselor is there to support you and respect your views. They will not usually give advice, but will help you to find your own insight and understanding of your problems.

In Spiritual Counseling the emphasis is on wholeness, dealing with the whole person, and assisting the client in inner balance and integration of all the dimensions of Self. It is experiential and focuses on the client’s individual experiences and reality, so the counsellor respecting them as unique assumes that the client’s reality is different from their own.

Spiritual counseling is sometimes based on the principles of major organized religions such as Christianity or Islam. In these instances, it is usually religious leaders of these organizations that offer guidance. They use principles that are derived from holy books such as the Bible or Koran.

Benefits of spiritual counseling

• It helps a person accomplish her goals by reinforcing ideas that there is a force greater than each individual
• It can help a person to grow and achieve in ways that she previously found difficult or impossible.
• It can help people overcome emotional problems such as those caused by bad relationships or abuse.
• It helps you explore the key issues you face, identify the underlying causes and develop and implement a plan for addressing them and moving beyond them.
• It will give you hope, peace and an alternative way of looking at situations.
• It will aid you in making confident decisions about your life.
• It empowers you from within so that you can live a life of freedom grounded in the truth about who you really are.