It’s becoming increasingly “official”. More and more, we human beings are using our furry, feathered, and finned fellow beings to help us heal. It’s called animal-assisted therapy, or AAT, and the purpose of this post is to introduce you to it, a therapy adjunct since the 1990s. We look into what it is, how we […]
Archives
Helping Introverts Cope with Overstimulation
We live in a noisy, overstimulated, fast-paced world: conditions in which extraverts thrive, but for the roughly half of the population who are introverted, those same conditions are cause for dismay, if not worse. At some stage, you may be asked to help a frazzled, introverted client regain balance. What are the signs and symptoms […]
- August 10, 2018
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Relationship & Families, Stress Management
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Recognising and Treating Exercise Addiction
He’s up at 5:00 a.m. every morning, slipping into jogging shorts despite the single-digit temperatures, cold winds, and darkness. He pounds the pavement faithfully for 90 minutes a day, at least five days a week. He is also chronically tired and complains of frequent joint pain. He has recently been feeling like, “Why bother? Life […]
- July 16, 2018
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- Addictions, Clinical Mental Health
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Benefits and Pitfalls of Counsellor Self-disclosure
Your client’s voice gets very low. In the hushed tones of deep shame, he confides, “I was so depressed yesterday, like never before. This was my marriage; it was so important to me, and I failed at it.” You are suddenly on high alert. You want to rush in and assure him that you know […]
- July 5, 2018
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Ethics & Legal Issues, Supervision
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Synchronicity in Counselling
It’s surely happened to all of us, and it will probably turn up at some stage in your therapy rooms, too: a client confides that, just when she was thinking of someone from the past whom she hadn’t seen for many years but who had a huge impact on her life, she runs into that […]
- June 15, 2018
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Spirituality & Religion
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Dealing with the Stigma of Hearing Impairment
One in six Australians has hearing loss, and the projection is that one in four will have it by 2050, as our population ages (Australian Network on Disability, n.d.). Thus, even if you never have a profoundly deaf client come to your rooms, you are likely to see someone at some stage who is hearing-impaired. […]
- June 8, 2018
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- Counselling Theory & Process, Disability Issues, Loss & Grief
- Read More
Shame, Guilt, Humiliation, and Embarrassment
Shame, guilt, humiliation, and embarrassment are painful and universal human experiences; the terms are often used interchangeably and do overlap, but are different from one another. Owing to differences in culture, religion, ethics, and personal standards, we experience them differently to even similar others in our social sphere, and certainly to people in other cultures. […]
- May 29, 2018
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- 28801
- Counselling Theory & Process
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Getting Your Counselling Practice Going
So, you’ve got your counselling qualification, you’ve hung your shingle out, and now you’re ready and waiting for clients. Are you just twiddling your thumbs, or are clients actually making their way to your rooms? Many of us chose counselling because we wanted to help people and also, we like thinking about the health and […]
- May 3, 2018
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- 9521
- Career Development, Private Practice, Technology & Social Media
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Helping Clients Handle Rejection
There are no two ways about it: rejection is a universal experience and we will all face it multiple times over the course of our lives. But it still hurts! So what might it be helpful to keep in mind when you face that poor client that has been rejected (perhaps again)? This article offers […]
- April 9, 2018
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- Counselling Therapies, Loss & Grief, Relationship & Families
- Read More
Myths of Intimate Partner Violence
Any activities, attitudes, or beliefs which perpetuate myths about domestic violence are dangerous. They encourage social acceptance of the problem, which engenders apathy, but even more insidiously, they lead women and the minority of men being abused to justify, minimise, or deny the violence which is occurring to them. When they do that, they are […]
- April 4, 2018
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- Relationship & Families, Trauma & Disaster Mental Health
- Read More
Volunteering for Seniors
As the population ages in nations such as Australia and the United States, increasing numbers of offspring wonder how to help their retired, now lonely, and often depressed parent. Some of these may ask you for advice on how to help their beloved mum or dad. Of course, health problems must be tended to, but […]
- March 15, 2018
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- Ageing Issues, Spirituality & Religion, Wellness
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Right-relating – with a Diploma to Back You Up
Have you ever sat in session with a client pouring out their tale of woe about a certain relationship they’re in which is causing them untold amounts of stress and grief? Of course, you undoubtedly took it all in with supreme respectfulness, being able to see how the complained-about person’s behaviour was out-of-line, if not […]
- March 3, 2018
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- Career Development, Counselling Theory & Process, Relationship & Families
- Read More
The Dangers of Teen Sexting (And How to Help Their Parents Help Them)
You may have faced this scenario before: anguished parents turn up in your rooms and plead with you for help: their cherished teenager, they find, is now sending and/or receiving sexually explicit text messages, photos, or videos. Oh, what to do? Unfortunately, this phenomenon is now common and increasing in frequency, even as the average […]
- February 22, 2018
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- Children & Adolescents, Ethics & Legal Issues, Multicultural Issues, Relationship & Families, School Counselling, Technology & Social Media
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Compulsive Gambling: Myths and Facts
Have you ever attempted to speak with a gambler about his or her gambling patterns? Chances are that the person overrode any concerns you might have broached about their behaviour by saying that they couldn’t possibly become addicted because they don’t gamble regularly, they don’t lose more than a few hundred dollars at a time, […]
- January 16, 2018
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- Addictions
- Read More
New Course: Diploma of Financial Counselling
As a Financial Counsellor, you will have the ability to assist those who are facing financial hardship. AIPC is the largest provider of counselling courses in the country. We have specialised in counsellor training for over 26 years. We have proudly helped over 55,000 people from 27 countries pursue their personal and career interests in […]
- December 7, 2017
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- News & Events
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