People may feel that having counselling will mean looking at things that happened in their past. Whilst this is not always the case, many quotes suggest there are benefits to be gained if we can learn from the past.
The aim of looking at the past is to learn something that will make a difference in the future. It can help prevent repeating patterns of behaviour because we become more aware of our actions and feelings.
Counselling is about increasing our self-awareness to help us see ourselves with greater understanding and what greater source of learning is there than how we have been in the past.
The past can relate to our childhood as well as to experiences in adulthood such as specific events and relationships.
This isn’t to say such exploration is easy because we may tap into painful memories or situations that stir up deep emotions. It can however be very therapeutic and have a healing effect on us if we can face such feelings with a learning view and then let go of the hurt.
In a sense, it’s about coming to terms with past events and gaining a healthier perspective on them. This hopefully also helps to prevent negative emotions from building up inside us such as bitterness, resentment, anger, and rage or from withdrawing and isolating ourselves due to unprocessed emotions.
We may find that we have developed strategies for managing our feelings and our relationships that do not serve us well.
So, becoming more aware of our reactions and underlying feelings can help improve our interactions with others and benefit our well-being.