My journey as a student counsellor

by Emma-Jayne Macdermott

Christian Guidelines is an amazing agency to initiate my counselling journey with. I had two very different placement agencies, and had began the other placement first, so thankfully I had a few face-to-face sessions under my belt. Although I was still nervous about my time in Christian Guidelines. I worried about learning the online note system, making tea or coffee for clients and what I was going to wear!

From the very beginning I felt welcomed into the nurturing environment and part of an amazing team.

I was privileged to work with a diverse range of clients, each with unique challenges and stories. There was a constant support from the initial allocation of a client to the end of the clients’ time and someone always ready to answer all my questions.

Through my time I have learnt so many valuable lessons that will help me in my future career.

One of my favourite aspects of Christian Guidelines was having a chat to those in the office. It was always uplifting and helpful, with lots of verses, advice and prayer too. I will always remember that we need to be a Mary in a Martha world and make time to sit with Jesus instead of always doing. It was lovely and beneficial to remember that God was sovereign over all the counselling sessions, even if I felt like the clients were stuck or I wasn’t helping.

I loved attending the various training that was organised throughout the year. The material covered supplemented my knowledge from my course and it was great to get to know some of the other faces of Christian Guidelines. One of my memorable training quotes is ‘burnout is the gap between clinical aspirations and what is humanly possible to achieve.’ I have struggled and worked continuously on wanting to rescue clients and be the perfect counsellor. However, I have seen how a solid relationship with a very inexperienced counsellor can change lives.

Christian Guidelines has been an invaluable experience in my journey to become a counsellor that I am excited to continue.