Why counselling is like gardening!

To me, counselling has a very organic approach, much like gardening, and in case you're thinking 'but I hate gardening! I'm not going to that weirdo!' don't worry it is just how I view the counselling process.

For example, if you plant a seed in the ground, then come back and look at it every hour, you will not see much growth, in fact you might actually feel pretty unimpressed, or even a bit angry at its lack of progress! 

But if you plant the seed then get on with your life, with its myriad of distractions, but at a later date then find yourself in the garden, and might suddenly notice some unexpected growth...That things have changed.

"Moments of movement - when it appears that change actually occurs"

(Carl Rogers, On becoming a person, 1961)

'Woah look at that! Where did that come from? Well I'll be...I thought that plant would never sprout!...Look at that flourishing in spite of being uprooted...so resilient!'

This is how I view counselling, as steady consistant change, achieved through steady consistant work on a regular weekly basis.  My role as your counsellor is to create the right environment for you to grow and change in, just as a gardener creates the right growing environment in the garden.  This is what I strive to help create, this self-realisation, the  "fulfillment by oneself of the possibilities of one's character or personality"

"The personal resources used by a counsellor help define their own unique style as a helper"

(John McLeod, 2011, Counselling Skills)