Read on Twitter
This is a good thread. I personally found the prospect of counselling rather daunting, largely due to stereotypes, but got to the point where neither I nor my wonderful friends could fix the stuff in my head alone https://twitter.com/CarolineMoss/status/1198748131556499456
My counsellor was great: no-nonsense and very empathetic while also capable of telling me when I was being unreasonable. Counselling isn’t just about being told that yes, everyone is being too mean to you.
I did CBT and learned techniques for dealing with paranoia and anxiety. Best one was asking “what’s the worst that can happen?” in situations where I was getting madly frightened. Also learned to like myself for the first time in a long time which has been nice.
Lots of people get in touch with me about their own mental health problems, and I always ask first if they are seeing a therapist. It’s not an easy question, though: NHS therapy is scarce, private is expensive, and it’s really hard to navigate the system and work out who is good.
But all that said, if you do have the opportunity to get counselling one way or the other, I’d say take it and have an open mind.
One other thought - a lot of men I speak to say they tried counselling but felt that they just went through the motions in their sessions while not feeling they were making much progress. I’d be interested in hearing from therapists or male patients about how to deal with that
