Counselling
There might be a number of reasons why a LGBT young person may want to access counselling. If you are feeling like something isn't right, for example if you're feeling very low and this isn't how you usually feel talking about how you are feeling is helpful.
There are a number of different ways of accessing services like this. Firstly if you are at school or college (maybe even university) there should be counselling services available for students. You could to speak to a school nurse (if your school has one) or a teacher that you get on with and trust. They will be able to inform you about which member of staff is your counsellor (if you have an on-site one) or the contact details of an outside counselling service.
What happens at a session?
Well it depends on how your counsellor runs the sessions, but here are some of the general rules about counselling. First of all each session is confidential (this means he or she cannot tell somebody else about what you've said) unless they feel that you are putting yourself at risk or you are a risk to somebody else. In this case they will advice you about seeking help from somebody else or doing something about what is going on.
The way to think about the session is that its almost as if you are talking to yourself in front of the mirror and there is something in the back of your mind asking you questions or encouraging you to talk about something further. The counsellor is there to listen to you, so don't feel bad about talking for ages when you are describing how you are feeling or about something that has happened. Also don't be worried about asking questions or saying "I don't feel comfortable talking about that yet" because it is up to you want you want to say. Of course the more you talk about the better the counsellor will be able to help you.
Counselling is available (see links page)
There are a number of different ways of accessing services like this. Firstly if you are at school or college (maybe even university) there should be counselling services available for students. You could to speak to a school nurse (if your school has one) or a teacher that you get on with and trust. They will be able to inform you about which member of staff is your counsellor (if you have an on-site one) or the contact details of an outside counselling service.
What happens at a session?
Well it depends on how your counsellor runs the sessions, but here are some of the general rules about counselling. First of all each session is confidential (this means he or she cannot tell somebody else about what you've said) unless they feel that you are putting yourself at risk or you are a risk to somebody else. In this case they will advice you about seeking help from somebody else or doing something about what is going on.
The way to think about the session is that its almost as if you are talking to yourself in front of the mirror and there is something in the back of your mind asking you questions or encouraging you to talk about something further. The counsellor is there to listen to you, so don't feel bad about talking for ages when you are describing how you are feeling or about something that has happened. Also don't be worried about asking questions or saying "I don't feel comfortable talking about that yet" because it is up to you want you want to say. Of course the more you talk about the better the counsellor will be able to help you.
Counselling is available (see links page)