ASSIGNMENT 1: INTERVIEW A COUNSELLOR

231PYC30 Interviewer: Prestha counsellor: mis shravya

The interview lasted for 45 minutes, and it was an insightful and knowledgeable session for me
as a budding counselling psychologist

1. Shravya ma'am's journey as a counsellor.

She feels that her journey as a counsellor began by chance when she was done with her masters
the contact with someone intending to take the journey forward and her peers encouraged her to
go for counselling and when she started working he realized this was where she actually wanted
to be.

2. Do most of the people choose psychology to work on themselves, explore various

dimensions of human self and then help others and was it something same for you?

One might or might not initially intend or realise that bur the course and the practice surely helps
them understand the importance of self awareness and how important it is to experience life and
understand oneself to be able to extend any kind of help to others.

3. What was the most challenging part of your journey?

The most challenging part about being a counsellor sometimes is the burnout that comes from it.
Sometimes ypu don’t really understand this so much as a student but in practice it feels like after
a certain point of time your vessel or your heart or your mind it gets really heavy to the point that
the kind of unburdening that is required to be done. It gets a little difficult because when people
share things with you, you can't always keep it in like a separate like professional basket.
Sometimes it's so overwhelming and so consuming so especially on days when there's more than
one session and you habe many other things consuming you. So in the human capacity it is quite
challenging to just be an objective and a viewer to these events. Sometimes it really takes a toll
on you.

4. Empathy being the most important aspect of counselling practice, what if sometimes
empathy naturally doesn’t come? Is it healthy?
Empathu mostly natuurally comes and it’s ok if you not feel it initially, as they say everything
takes time the same is with motherhood for example the mother takes time to accept herself, her
chile and the situatuon around, sso this is similat, but it’s exhausting and post sesssion burnout is
a real thing, one has to make attempts to constantly work on themselves to not let anything affect
themselves and the people they are surrounded with.

5. Most difficult client and the siruation.

The person who reached out needed immediate help because they had sucidal thoughts and
somehow managed to get the contact I was at work and excused myself, the call lasted for 30
minutes, it was overwhelming to control the situation because It was so sudden and unexpected
and I had to put myself into the situation that I was pulled into I was so conscious if I said the
right thing, did the right thing and helped the person , it was glad that the person had few
sessions scheduled later on and their life turned around, I am glad and grateful to god for all the
strength which sometimes gets us out of such situations.

6. How to find or identify a good therepist.

It all can be understood through the rapport built initially it’s just like finding the right person
because we are sharing something we don’t usually share or talk about so the point of being
understood and an open space being provided for the expression of emotions though it is a
professional space the human factor should always be considered.

7. What if the client’s story connects so much with our story? Is it right to tell them that we
can’t contiue the sessions with them further?

No man is an Island and when you feel too close to home it is better to take the charge to let the
person know that I might not be the best person to help you out In this particular situation. It's
better to have a good circle of people in contact and the mindset to pass the case forward to a
senior or anyone who can be of help as it’s all grounded to client centered therapy and so it’s
about the client’s state and the well being that has to be maintained so you as a therapist should
be humble enough and humane enough to pass on the case in any such situation.
 8. As we study psychology it is a different kind of impression formation that comes in the
family and people around and it becomes hard to explain each and every person that we
observe behavior and not read minds. What to do in that case?

This is one of the occupational hazard, similar to any healthcare professional as we see if one
person in the family is a doctor everyone with every single problem approaches them but hardly
are all the suggestions worked upon so keeping that in mind know that it’s hard to advice
someone really close to you but see if they do consider the advice which mostly does not
happen.

9. How much ever we learn about confidentiality don't you think it is the basic human
tendency to discuss things? So discussing the clients might sometimes be unintentional
and just come out as the topic comes so how far is it right or wrong?

It's advised to keep the crucks and the information isolated and discuss the situation without
giving any idea that might breach confidentiality and it’s 0k to discuss if the situation is actually
bothering you and you need a solution just find the right person to talk to and get a solution or
advice, which might not require uncovering the whole story or even a situation some vague idea
correctly put to seek advice can also help.

10. Lastly what advice would you give to the budding counsellors especially initially when
we feel like we are not fit for the profession, it’s challenging etc.

I'm trying to think what I would tell myself if I could go back in time and advise myself so I
think the best thing to do is don't compromise on your network firstly, like the people that you
are studying with the people that you are currently you know training with, are really going to be
your backbone of your career as you grow in this field because you will need each other and so
it's a good idea to anchor yourself on the community that you come from. I strongly suggest that
for a young counsellor to get somebody to supervise your work because when you're not
constantly questioning yourself there's a little bit of confidence that comes from you like oh you
know when your supervisor tells you oh you said that that's a really good thing that you said or
that you know you're doing a good job or that you're on the right path. I think it really helps to
have that you know kind of reassurance because nobody else can do it for you during this when
you are you know a counsellor, you're kind of just like single-handedly trying to fix somebody
else's life and that can get really overwhelming sometimes so just having somebody who's
patting you on the back or steering you in the right direction is really helpful and more than
anything. Don't be afraid to start young because it's okay like your first few clients might you
might feel like you're not doing any really good work with them or that you know you're not
benefiting them in some really great way but you don't know the kind of impact that you are
making because we all have this imposter syndrome we like to stay humble and we'll keep
tearing ourselves down but there's really no harm that once your training is done that you start
off young it's totally fine and you know like more than anything I feel like you get you become
better with experience so don't be afraid to get that experience I feel like I would say all of this to
myself so yeah that's my advice.

Acknowledgements:

The session went on for 44 minutes and was really educating for me this definitely will remain a
guide for me for the journey further I extend my sincere gratitude to Shravya ma’am for her
time, patience and openness towards the interview answering all my questions. I would also take
this opportunity to thank Aabharna ma’am for such a creative assignment that is gonna help us
in the future.