As you are seeking mental health counselling services in Surrey, you should know what to look for in a therapist so that you are comfortable with him always. Somebody rightly said, people are as wonderful as sunsets. When we look at the sunset, we just enjoy the way it is. We do not ask the orange to move a bit and make way for red. We do not control the sunset, and we stand there watch the beauty of nature in awe. And this is the best example of empathy.
The top-most quality of a mental health counsellor is to have empathy. While being empathetic is the most important, there can be other prominent qualities of a therapist if someone wants to avail the counselling. The qualities that make people feel free to share their life, trust the person, sit and talk even when they are irritated, confused, and feeling in despair. As human beings, we all are given some basic skills, one of which is we can easily make out if we are talking to someone and that person is not listening or paying attention to the words we utter. And, we do not want to seek any such mental health services in Surrey where the health professional is not even keen on listening to us.
The next skill we talk about is listening. Your counsellor should be a sound listener. He should offer a warm approach to you so that you can talk freely in front of him, elaborate your life, and express extensively. Most of the time, if someone is availing counseling, he wants the counsellor to listen to him and the patients wants to talk at length without any interruption. Thus, the way we listen does matter, as it not only gives a message that the person is here but also that the speaker is not alone.
Active listening is a state when the counsellor is carefully listening to everything the counselee is saying. We believe that counselors should not simply listen to the counselee but also try to understand the reason behind what they said so. Counselors must take the information as it is without twisting it.
As we listen to the counselee, the next thing or the next quality comes is being non-judgmental. Being judgmental is imbibed in human nature, and it demands a lot of patience. At times, this becomes one of the most challenging things counsellors have to deal with. However, a compassionate counsellor finds his way out and do not label the counselee as they share the challenges and difficulties they face in life.
