WHAT IS COUNSELLING?         Counselling does not eliminate the difficulties of life         Counselling does not cure anything         Counselling can not make obnoxious, hostile or demanding people in your life disappear         Counselling is needed when you do not feel free to face life's difficulties in constructive ways         Counselling explores the ways people limit their lives and undermine their independence         Counselling assumes that each person is responsible for what he/she thinks, feels and how he/she behaves         Counselling recognizes that each person has the innate capacity to grow, to know oneself, and to make choices consistent with the development of one's potential         Counselling recognizes that growth and change are natural processes of being alive and are needed for positive psychological well-being         Counselling can help free people from self-restrictive attitudes and patterns of resistance, be revealing and discussing obstacles to that growth and change         Counselling takes courage         Counselling makes demands upon you as all new ventures         Counselling needs you to be ready to deal with things that you would rather forget, to keep working even when you do not seem to make progress, and to tolerate the anxieties of putting your new knowledge and understanding into action         Counselling can give you the means to deal with obstacles (whether people or events) in a more productive way         Counsellling can teach you to recognize those thoughts or actions that you use, to stop you from achieving what you want