A global network for inner change
Some of my coaching clients turn up at my door because they feel they're not 'in touch' with their emotions, would like to be - and simply don't know where to start. Often they've been suppressing their feelings all their lives, afraid that if they allow themselves to feel so-called 'negative' emotions like sadness, hurt, anger, fear and despair they will become overwhelmed. And so, by avoiding these core emotions over and over again, they develop a kind of emotional 'numbness' where they no longer feel much at all. At a conscious level at least. Little do they know that it is in opening to the very feelings that they have subdued that they will often find the greatest gifts!Sometimes personal transformation coaching is an appropriate tool for people with this kind of issue, but more often than not, what I suggest is a course in co-counselling.A co-counselling training course provides a safe space to start to explore our emotions, work through them and 'discharge' them. Successful completion of the course, which is usually run over five days, means that you can set up reciprocal co-counselling sessions - for free, at any time you like - with anyone in the worldwide co-counselling network (which makes it a great tool for today - when many of us find we often don't have the extra cash to spend on 'niceties').I've been teaching co-counselling since I was 20 (through some rather dramatic synchronicities, I found myself at an introductory day, hosted by the late and much-loved London co-counselling teacher Bernard Springer, while completing the thesis year of my Psychology degree). A year or so later, during the time period when I was assisting on one of his co-counselling training courses, Bernard suffered a minor heart attack and, when I visited him in hospital, he leaned forward and whispered, 'You couldn't run the course for me while I'm away, could you, Tonya?' The rest, as they say, is history.When Bernard was safely back from hospital (he never had a reoccurence of that health issue and died many years later, of natural causes, at the age of 90-odd, still teaching co-counselling), having run the group successfully in his absence, I decided to train as a co-counselling teacher - and started teaching later that year. Co-counselling has been about the only constant in my life since then (it's been quite a ride) - and today I'm one of about 45 co-counselling teachers worldwide.I see a co-counselling training (often called a Fundamentals course) as an excellent foundation for all sorts of other self- and spiritual development work. It provides you with 20 or so tools to help you understand and transform your relationship with your emotions. And for many it becomes an invaluable self-maintenance tool that they can use year on year to help them explore issues in their lives, expand their sense of themselves and their world and help them change and grow.Like to train or know someone who does? I am running a co-counselling training this autumn in Guildford starting October 20th. Please contact me as soon as possible to book, as places are strictly limited. 'Refreshers' (previously trained co-counsellors) and helpers welcome. For dates of courses, please see Events page.If you need help finding co-counselling contacts and events in your own country, there are some useful links on my co-counselling page.For more on co-counselling see also Walking into the fire and Some gifts from the co-counsellor's toolkit.