Counselling can offer a number of benefits to individuals who have been confronted with difficulties, or who are striving to overcome issues from the past. For example, counselling can help one to:
- Cope effectively with difficult life situations, such as relationship issues, interpersonal difficulties, loss of employment, or life disappointments
- Come to terms with some of the difficulties that can arise from major life transitions, such as getting married or divorced, having a baby, moving to a new place, finishing university, starting or losing a job, coping with retirement, etc.
- Deal with a variety of mood difficulties, such as depression, anger, and anxiety
- Come to terms with past traumatic events, such as abuse, life threatening situations, or a dysfunctional family of origin
- Strive to strengthen self-esteem and level of assertiveness
- Work on parenting strategies and resolve feelings that can arise from a difficult relationship with one's children
- Develop healthy strategies for dealing with stress and establish good balance in one's life
- Learn how to develop healthy boundaries with others and a strong sense of self
- Overcome negative messaging from one's past and learn to build self-acceptance and confidence
- Address unhealthy coping strategies, whether this is through addiction, disordered eating, or burying of feelings, and learn how to fully express and process one's emotions
- Work through feelings of loss and grief after many different types of loss, such as death of a loved one, divorce, family estrangement, unemployment, the "empty nest", or health issues
- Develop new perspectives and views on life, as well as develop a refined self-concept and new directions for the future