Counselling for Counsellors

More Than Textbook Knowledge

Counselling and supervision are never just about learning the right tools or following the right steps following from a book or a weekend training. At its heart, therapy is about what happens between two people. That relationship—the trust, the uncertainty, the mystery—is where real change begins. 

When we reduce counselling to a set of techniques, the counsellor risks becoming more of a technician than a human being. Skills are important, of course, but they must be alive and responsive to the person sitting in front of us. As one writer put it, “theory itself that is not firmly rooted in the primacy of what is happening between two people can be a source of danger.” If we are not firmly grounded in what it is like to be a client, we are at risk for causing some damage. 

Why Counsellors Need Counselling

This is why it’s essential for counsellors and supervisors to have counselling themselves. It’s not only about personal growth or self-care—it’s about staying grounded in what it feels like to be on the other side of the room. 

This experience of personal counselling and clinical supervision is important so that psychotherapy and counselling will not, like much of psychiatry and psychology, lose its origins, in starting with the meeting between two people.

When we’ve sat in the client’s chair, we remember the vulnerability of sharing our story. We notice our own blind spots and the ways we might unknowingly restrict others. And we gain a kind of wisdom that can’t be taught in a classroom or a textbook—it can only be lived. This is a tacit knowledge that only comes from experience. 

Staying Human in the Work

Counselling is most powerful when it begins with two people meeting honestly and openly. Theories and techniques can support us, but they are never the main event. What matters most is our willingness to stay present, curious, and real.

Doing our own counselling is one of the best ways to keep that human connection alive. It reminds us that we are not just helpers—we are also fellow travelers. And that shared humanity may be the most healing thing we bring into the room.