What’s in Your Bag? Exploring the Benefits of Counselling
Jenelle Goodwin, MC, CCC
What brings people to counselling?
People come to counselling for many different reasons, including navigating feelings of
overwhelm or uncertainty, working through a life transition, managing stress and anxiety,
improving communication, and making sense of difficult experiences. Counselling provides a
confidential and judgement-free space to talk about your thoughts, feelings and experiences
with a professional who is trained in providing this kind of support.
What are the benefits of talking about thoughts, feelings and experiences with a
counsellor?
Many of us have been taught to keep our feelings to ourselves and have learned to bottle them
up inside, sometimes leading to emotional distress. Emotional distress might show up as
excessive worrying, self-critical thinking, low mood, exhaustion, brain fog, or anger/irritation.
Your physical health may also be influenced by your emotions, including restless sleep, aches
and pains or digestive problems. Talking about what is going on inside of you with a counsellor
can help you process the information and understand yourself better. A counsellor can also
provide practical evidence-based skills to support changes in thinking patterns, help you to
regulate your emotions and to support your personal goals and wellness.
Picture This.
Picture yourself carrying around a really heavy bag for many years, alone. Then one day, someone walks up to you and asks, “hey, that looks really heavy, do you mind me asking what is so important to you that you have been carrying this around, everywhere you go?” You might be hesitant at first, but you too haven’t looked in that bag for some time and wonder what is still in there. You begin to put the bag on the ground and as you do, the weight makes you stumble
a few steps, but the person supports your arm, “you’ve got this.” As you place it on the ground,
you immediately notice the physical tension released in your shoulder, your arm and you
remember how heavy that bag was. You sit down beside the bag with the person and slowly you
open the bag, taking items out one by one, reflecting on each piece, sharing a story about
where you collected it from and when you put it in there. As you go through each piece, you feel
the difference between the items that ignite a strong emotional response inside of you, like joy,
accomplishment, disappointment, discomfort, and even realizing that some of those things you
have been carrying, are important or helpful and you want to keep them with you, while others,
are no longer helpful to you.
Counselling might look and feel like this process of slowly unpacking things you have been
carrying with you. Collaboratively, you and your counsellor can explore which of these thoughts,
feelings or beliefs are supporting the life you want to have, and which you may wish to change
with new experiences, skills or behaviours.
Counselling can help you navigate:
Grief and loss: navigating and adjusting to life after loss and changes in routine
Relationships: communication, understanding relationship patterns, rupture and repair,
and understanding your needs
Anxiety and overwhelm: worry, racing and ruminating thoughts, difficulty relaxing,
feeling on edge
Trauma and past experiences: processing past experiences and understanding how
they may affect your present life.
Values and Beliefs: exploring what matters to you, finding meaning and purpose,
support with life transitions, identity exploration and self-esteem
Wondering where to start?
It is not always easy to reach out, especially if you are not used to asking for help. Many
counsellors offer a complimentary consultation to explore what you have been experiencing,
discuss your intentions, goals and the kind of support you are looking for. The consultation also
allows you to ask any questions you may have about the counsellor’s approach and to
determine if you feel they may be a good fit for you. A great place to start exploring what
counsellors are available in your area is Psychology Today. Counselling is a human process -
this means that every counsellor takes a different approach, and the process will look different
as your needs and goals change.
Resources
American Psychological Association. (2023). Understanding psychotherapy and how it works.
Lieberman, M. D., Eisenberger, N. I., Crockett, M.J., Tom, S. M., Pfeiffer, J. H., & Way, B. M.
(2007). Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to
affective stimuli. Psychological Science, 18, 421-427.
Papola D., Miguel C., Mazzaglia M., et al. (2024). Psychotherapies for Generalized Anxiety
Disorder in Adults: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized
Clinical Trials. JAMA Psychiatry, 81(3), 250–259. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.3971
Sønderland, N. M., Solbakken, O. A., Eilertsen, D. E., Nordmo, M., & Monsen, J. T. (2024).
Emotional changes and outcomes in psychotherapy: A systematic review and meta-
analysis. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 92(9), 654–670.
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