A meaningful gift.
A friend of yours may go through hard times and experience trauma that touches your heart. This is the time that you realise that we all need a little extra help.
You can show that you care by sponsoring a counselling session. This gesture is a gift that will be remembered for years to come.
A gift counselling session is a gift of hope and growth for someone who needs a nudge in the right direction, special support and counselling to find lasting solutions. Sessions can be facilitated online or in-person in Pretoria.
When you click on the ‘Enquire’-link you will be directed to an email address. You will receive the relevant information to ensure that you can make an informed decision and the confidentiality of all parties are honoured.
We like this gift because it is a gentle, meaningful reminder that someone cares and that counselling is available in trying times. This is a kind way of addressing the needs of a friend and a loved one.
Fear, fake news and false facades
The three things that are thriving in the midst of a national disaster are fear, fake news and false facades. People try to cling to the idea that life has to go on as usual in the shadow of grave health concerns.
The reality is that we have to find a new sense of normality in a maze of anxiety-provoking, exaggerated gossip. It is hard to distinguish what is really happening and when are people exaggerating their situation.
Everything that happens is not a potential catastrophe and you don’t have to be in the centre of everyone’s drama. You are allowed to take a step back to take a reality check.
The good news is that people are resilient and much more flexible than we give ourselves credit for. We have used our innovative skills to deal with the shortage of electricity during load-shedding and now our movements are restricted. We have to make last-minute changes to our schedules because meetings get cancelled. We have to change our working hours and reprioritize interactions to fit in with the load-shedding roster.
All of a sudden many people find themselves in an unaccustomed and disconcerting workspace. Home!
Your new workspace can be filled with very busy “colleagues” and distractions. On the other side, you may be totally isolated and alone, which can be equally distracting. Working from home is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea.
The involuntary quarantine causes many mental health issues to the surface because we are social beings. This is even true of the self-proclaimed introverts because people need social interactions. We don’t realize the value of the interaction and exchanges between colleagues during the course of a normal working day.
The issues that can come to the foreground from being forced to work from home in the midst of a world-wide pandemic are:
- The change in your mindset from “living” to being in survival mode. This shift in mindset is the clearest in people binge shopping for so-called essential goods, leaving shop shelves empty. The empty shop shelves aggravate feelings of anxiety and despair. People who cannot afford to stockpile are even more anxious because their situation turns out to be more hopeless.
Book your online or in-person appointment today
People need ways to express themselves freely and spontaneously, without the anxiety of being analysed.
Children learn naturally and most effectively through play.
“The therapeutic value of art and play” is my latest online workshop for teachers, parents, counsellors and people who enjoyed being kids. We look at the value of spontaneous play and art-making, as well as the value of folk art in our communities. This workshop will give you a new perspective on how valuable art, craft and play can be without burdening anyone for an artificial outcome. We explore spontaneous art and natural play; handicraft; folk art and culture as tools of self-expression and creativity, leading to healing, learning and wholesome pleasure.
This online workshop will also be presented in English and Afrikaans on Aquilla Training’s website, in collaboration with Inter Trauma Nexus and Aquilla Wellness Solutions. You can enrol for the workshop at your convenience and complete the workshop in your own time.
Price R 400-. Length 5-6 hours. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the CPD/CPTD points are negotiated, but still pending.
Aquilla Training’s online workshop library is growing at a steady rate, as we add at least two online workshops per month. We help you to stay up-to-date which gives you the confidence of knowing you are working with best practices.
Going for counselling can be a daunting prospect, especially when you are sitting in a problem-saturated situation. My clients often start the conversation with stating that they “don’t even know where to start”.
The good news is that there is no correct or wrong place to start our conversation. The fact that you made your appointment is already a leap in the right direction. Coming to get the guidance, support or counselling takes courage and determination to become well.
Helping traumatized clients is more than just listening. Aquilla Advisors’ facilitators are trainer in various disciplines in order to provide the best available support to our clients. Just talking about a traumatic experience can put an emotional tail-spin on the experience, causing more harm. We are committed to help all our clients to put trauma behind them.
Definition clarification:
I believed that Christian Counseling is rooted in the Bible and a two-thousand year tradition of loving pastoral care to facilitate the kind of cure that Jesus promised. In my practice we work to help or clients find peace, wholeness, direction and stability in Christ.
In Christian Counseling the true power to change comes from the Holy Spirit’s active involvement in the process of encouragement, consolation, challenge and transformation into the likeness of Christ.
Traumatology is a health and social science which is concerned with all the aspects of emotional trauma and crisis on the individual and society. Traumatology brings together the inputs and draws on a host of related sciences, such as: psychology, sociology, theology, nutrition and others. The study of traumatology enables the practitioner to provide supportive and curative interventions to sufferers of trauma.
Coaching is about creating change that helps enhances performance and learning. Coaches emphasize new competencies, learning and goal attainment. In fact, a coach is a personal navigator for the journey of life, focusing on what the clients want. Everything in coaching hinges on listening with the client’s agenda in mind. COMENSA defines coaching as “a professional, collaborative and outcomes-driven method of learning that seeks to develop an individual and raise self-awareness so that he or she might achieve specific goals and perform at a more effective level”.
COMENSA defines mentoring as “a partnership in which a mentee is assisted in making significant advances in knowledge, perspective and vision in order to develop their full potential; the mentor’s wisdom is utilized by the mentee to facilitate and enhance new learning and insight.” The mentor’s focus is the development of the learner, and about passing on personalized, domain-specific knowledge.
It is very important to ensure that the person helping you is properly trained and registered to offer these services. Don’t be afraid to ask to see registration documents.
