Don’t Panic - Plan
I wonder how your second week of online practice has been? NCS Registrant Suzie Mosson, a director of Online Training for Counsellors, has some expert advice for practitioners making this move. Whethe...
When I undertook my Level 3 in counselling training back in late 2014 I was in a sales role within an IT support company. While I ultimately wanted to go on to become a Counsellor, it struck me that the skills that I was learning in my training were incredibly relevant and helpful to me in my day-to-day life, including within the work I was doing at the time.
It’s quite easy to see how counselling skills can help within a sales role – building rapport with your clients, learning how to better listen to them when they’re frustrated or telling you what they need, and bringing that genuine-ness (congruence) that you’ve been cultivating into client your relationships to build trust and respect. The level of confidence I gained throughout my counselling training was significant, and this really helped me excel in many different areas.
I was – and still am – somewhat of an introvert, in addition to living with a decent helping of anxiety around social situations, but finding my voice through learning how to be more present with others allows me to step outside of my head and really engage with people.
It occurs to me that in life and in work we are, most of us, constantly communicating with others. Anything we can do that improves our ability to simply communicate – which I believe counselling does on a very significant level – will only benefit our relationships with those around us.
If you’re in a sales role; a healthcare role; a janitorial, delivery or service role; a driving instructor; a pilot; an administrator; a customer service rep; a banker; a dog groomer… anything you can think of, learning some basic counselling skills will help you at work.
It will probably also help you at home, too – to communicate with your family and friends, to be more generally self-aware, and to be in tune with yourself when things are bothering you and know how to communicate that to those that can help you.
I therefore highly recommend that everyone does at least a basic level of counselling training. You can get started with some online CPD courses, which can be found here: https://www.counsellingcpd.org
