Busting Counselling Jargon

Does your therapist talk about “containing you”? Do you wonder what on earth they mean by “holding”, “safe”, “space” and (my favourite) “boundaries” ??

This quick jargon buster will shed light on the jargon we are all supposed to recognise a meaning from.

The bond we have with our primary caregivers n early life e.g. parents. If care is not there during this period can result in adverse psychological consequences in the child’s social and emotional development which can then affect their future adult life.

The initial set up of the therapist/client relationship so that each party is both clear of their role within the therapy sessions, and the professional limits that are created.

The telling of information by the client to the therapist. Under specific circumstances, a counsellor may need to disclose information to another, but this would be discussed at the beginning of the sessions. In most situations, your permission will be sought before this happens.

Therapeutic relationship

The relationship between the therapist and the client – the most important thing in counselling. How we work together and the roles we take on are the foundation of the work.

A defence mechanism involving a failure to consciously acknowledge thoughts, feelings, desires, or aspects of reality that would be painful or unacceptable.

An attitude of non-judgemental warmth. It means having acceptance of the other person, exactly as they are, as a separate person entitled to their own feelings and experiences.
Dissociation: A defence mechanism where thoughts, feelings or experiences that are unwanted or too hard to deal with are separated out of memory in order to create a psychological distance.

Psychological resistance refers to when a client doesn’t cooperate or refuses to engage with the counselling service, which can include refusing to discuss something relevant or deciding they won’t change their behaviour.

A conscious dependence.

A very good thing to experience in counselling! Challenging is about bringing into focus discrepancies in the other person’s feelings, thinking or behaviour that they are tending to overlook or ignore. Challenging discrepancies is best done sensitively and respectfully but MUST BE DONE after all you are coming to counselling to change something.

Empathy means having a felt sense of what is going on for the other person. It is the ability to be able to put yourself in their shoes and have an awareness of what they are feeling, how they think, how they see the world. It involves sensing the other person’s world “as if” it were your own, without losing that “as if” quality.

Building trust and commitment to create an environment where clients feel secure (warm, comfortable and not in danger or being overlooked or overheard.

CREDITS: http://pixabay.com/en/dictionary-words-grammar-abc-390055/