From the category archives:

Students

How to become a counsellor: or how I became a counsellor.

by Robin on January 14, 2011

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.  ~Anne Frank

This question crossed my desk more times than I can count, so I figured it a good topic for a short post.  You will likely have more questions, which you can ask, and you will have to do some of your own research as I can’t really tell you how YOU can become a counsellor, only tell you what I did.

Why can’t it be easier?  Well because there are so many routes to working in the helping field and each of us has to find a path that works. But it doesn’t have to be a perfect path, just find one that works and ensure that your program is accredited and/or the route to doing the type of work you want to do.

Choosing a career is a complicated process, choosing a career that does not have a linear path is even more challenging. People who provide helping services, therapy, counselling, psychotherapy, are a varied group of professionals, with diverse education and experience. Since there are a number of routes it can be helpful to ask yourself these three questions:

  1. Where do I want to work? (Hospital, Children’s Services, shelter, College or University, health clinic, private practice)
  2. What type of Education and Experience do I have and how much time and money am I able to put into further training?
  3. Where do I live? (Are there rules governing the practice of counselling in my region?)

Most of my clients don’t have the answers to these questions yet, so the process of finding the right route into the profession of counselling can be quite daunting.

At this time counselling professionals all over Canada and the US are hard at work to help the government regulate the profession, so it is important to find out if your own Province or State has specific requirements and laws governing counsellors/counselors.

For example, in Ontario Canada, regulation is underway. For some information on how things are going in Canada see The National Symposium on Counsellor Regulation

http://www.ccpa-accp.ca/en/symposium2011/

For more specific information on my route…

[click to continue...]

Is University really the best time of life?

by Robin on April 24, 2009

Since 1999 I have been working with University students, helping them deal with various issues including; school/life balance, 1/4 life crisis, managing stress and anxiety, dealing with body and mood related issues and helping them find their first jobs.

The amount of stress faced by a college/university student these days is unbelievable.  This stress compared to the cultural idea that being a student is a breeze means that students often feel like their problems are not taken very seriously which can lead to further feelings of isolation and despair.

While my clients at the University are all different, there are themes that come up again and again, and I thought I would try to create a resource of articles and strategies in a section of this blog for students who are feeling like something needs to change.  If there is something you would like me to post about please send an email with your question to robin@lifeinspired.ca and I’ll do my best to either write about it myself or refer you to a good resource.

Wishing you much joy and a fulfilling life beyond school.