My gratitude for being a counsellor

On my website, I share the story of how I became a counsellor and how the roots of my career go back to elementary school! In this blog post, I’d like to share more details about what this career means to me, and why I believe I was meant to do this work. I will do so through the lens of gratitude, which this work and my clients continually inspire in me. The language I use here is poetic because I’m a poet at heart, and I tend to express the most meaningful experiences in my life in this way.

I am grateful, firstly, for my use of empathy with clients. When I can enter into another’s frame of reference, and all of my projection is dissolved or contained, it is like the interpersonal equivalent of proper musical tuning, when disparate, antagonistic sounds become transparent, align, and a space and structure greater than them coalesces into Being. It is interpersonal harmony. It is music to the ears of the heart.

Empathy feels like magic, perhaps because such harmony of personalities of differing pitch and timbre, and being witnessed in its midst, is such a rare, treasured- and transformative- experience. When I really see clients as they are, not as me, I know the experience matters to them, and they know they matter to me, whatever the timbre of their being. And once people matter, miracles are possible! Such profound clarity and witnessing are truly extraordinary.

I am grateful that I can be nonjudgmental and offer a different (and hopefully useful) point of view to the client. I can motivate them by calling on their strengths when they are discouraged, or, when their mind or heart feels overwhelmed, by slowing them down by exploring their experience with them, and by using a soft voice and body language. Equally, I am grateful to be able to broaden a client’s perspective by pointing to the influence of family and social systems that affect them, which opens up fresh avenues for change.

I’m grateful that, because of the life experiences that led me to my career and how this work has supported my personal growth, I am, at my core, a compassionate, kind, and courageous person. I’m grateful that the realization continues to grow within me of what a privilege it is to witness the often hidden struggles of others. It is a privilege, always, to meet their failures with tenderness, affirm their triumphs, and ultimately witness their mastery of the struggle- or even their attempt, which is itself noble and worthwhile. And above all, and finally, when each such encounter is complete, I’m grateful to have been moved and inspired, and therefore changed, by it. 

To me, this career is far more than earning a living. It’s an act of service for people who feel alone and in need of support. It will always be my honour to provide it. 

If this blog post resonated with you, if you have questions, or if you’re ready to explore working together, please reach out to me using the contact information in my profile. I’d be delighted to hear from you. Until then, thank you so much for reading, and have a marvellous day.