- Youth -
School stress? Challenging family, friend and romantic relationships? Self-harm struggles? Thoughts of suicide? Social anxiety? Drug and alcohol problems? Issues with anger?
There are many, many reasons that youth decide to try counselling out for themselves. Likely if you've found yourself on this page, you're looking for help. For yourself, for a friend, for a family member. We are here to help you through whatever situation you want to throw at us, every step of the way; free of judgement, always. Sometimes it can also feel like no one else in the world has experienced anything close to what you're going through. Please trust that nothing you say will shock us or make us think less of or differently of you. Chances are we've heard something similar before and throughout the whole process, we're there to help you move forward in the best way that you can and to help you be as successful as possible.
There are many, many reasons that youth decide to try counselling out for themselves. Likely if you've found yourself on this page, you're looking for help. For yourself, for a friend, for a family member. We are here to help you through whatever situation you want to throw at us, every step of the way; free of judgement, always. Sometimes it can also feel like no one else in the world has experienced anything close to what you're going through. Please trust that nothing you say will shock us or make us think less of or differently of you. Chances are we've heard something similar before and throughout the whole process, we're there to help you move forward in the best way that you can and to help you be as successful as possible.
'My parents are forcing me to go!'Well isn't that the pits. Ideally if your parents are forcing you to come, it's secretly them caring about you and wanting the best for you. We always encourage youth to at least try us out and give us a shot. I promise that we might not know every single slang word that 'the kids these days are using', but I do promise that we are very approachable and still mildly cool-ish counsellors.
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'You're going to tell my parents what I say!'Absolutely, most definitely not! Promise. If you are 12 years old or older, you will be able to sign a consent form yourself for counselling and whatever you say within your counselling session will be kept private from everyone (with the exception of certain and specific circumstances - please click here to learn more). It does take a little bit of time to develop a trusting relationship with your counsellor, but please know that what you say is private and kept between us.
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'It's too scary to go on my own!'
The first session can definitely seem a bit daunting and scary especially if you've never tried counselling out before. We encourage you to feel free to bring someone that you feel safe with to your first appointment with you. They can also attend further appointments with you too, but we're fairly confident that you'll connect fairly quickly with your counsellor and be kicking your friend or parent out of the space in not too long.
'I don't want my Counsellor to tell me what to do!'
Don't worry! That is definitely what we're not here to do. We're here to listen, to walk beside you and to honour and respect your space within the room. If there is something you don't want to talk about or you're not quite ready to share, you will never be forced to give information or 'go there', unless you, yourself decide to.
'Counselling is for crazy people!'
I guess this really depends on what your definition of 'crazy' is. In all seriousness though, counselling is for whatever you need it to be for. Some people come to learn specific tools to help them work towards certain goals while other people seems to enjoy counselling as a safe space to let everything out - especially to someone who has to adhere to confidentiality and also someone who isn't mixed in with all the other pieces in your life.
Still here? Still reading? Awesome! Because Ignite Counselling just happens to have one of the best and brightest youth counsellors around. Erin Legault has worked with youth her whole career and youth also just happen to be a population that she is most comfortable with and passionate to work with. Please feel free to give our office a call and start the awesome process for yourself.
