Couples Counselling

As a couple, discuss and explore areas of improvement in your relationship with a counsellor over weekly sessions of 1.5 hours each.

What does Couples Counselling involve?

• The counsellor helps the couple become aware of unique patterns of interaction in their relationship. Together, goals are set for replacing unhelpful patterns and increasing helpful patterns.
• The couple becomes aware of the influence of family life-stage on their relationship.
• The counsellor also helps the couple communicate effectively with one another, develop skills and strengthen their relationship.
• The counsellor is neutral and gives equal time and attention to both partner’s needs.

Benefits of Couples Counselling

• Marriage counselling leads to positive outcomes.
• Research findings indicate that marriage counselling leads to positive outcomes and  is more  effective than no counselling.
• Marriage Counselling is helpful to prepare for or adjust to new life stages such as new couple, family with young children, family with adolescent children, launching children and moving on and family in later life.  Each of these life stages put different demands on the couple.
• Common areas that couples commonly seek counselling for include companionship-intimacy, economic issues, work and recreation, parenting, house-hold chores, relationships with extended family, religion, friends, substance abuse and communication.

Family Counselling

As a family, discuss issues that the family is facing as a whole or difficulties of an individual member with a counsellor over weekly sessions of 1.5 hours each.

What does Family Counselling involve?

• Each family member’s view of the situation and their needs are discussed. Unhelpful and helpful patterns of interaction are identified. The counsellor helps the family work towards common goals.
• The family is a system of which each individual member is a part of. Therefore an individual’s behaviour is influenced by how the family functions. The counsellor helps family members communicate with one other effectively, develop skills to resolve issues faced and enhance their relationships with each other.

Benefits of Family Counselling

• Research findings support the effectiveness of family counselling.
• Since the family is a system, change is best facilitated by working with the family as a whole. Neither the individual nor the family is blamed for any problem. Families are helped to recognize systemic factors that contribute to a particular problem. They can then participate in finding solutions.

Support Groups

Join a small group of people, unknown to you, who are in a similar life stage or situation, to share, learn and grow together. The group meets at regular intervals and is facilitated by a counsellor.

What does a Support Group involve?

• The purpose of a support group is to explore your situation with others who have similar experiences. This leads to personal growth and development. The counsellor helps the group members help each other. Sharing in the group helps you understand that you are not alone.
• All human beings learn and grow in the context of a group. A support group provides the opportunity to see yourself as an individual and as a group member. Groups are an effective avenue to growth and change.
• Group counsellors help the group develop trust and communicate effectively.
• You get the opportunity to share your concerns and group members help you feel understood and supported. You also gain from the feedback and perspectives group members provide from their experiences. Similarly, you contribute to the growth and development of other members.

We offer the following Support Groups (only in Bangalore):

Support group for Single Parents (women only)

Support group for Parents

Support group for Anger

Support group for Grief & Loss

Life Coaching

Discuss and explore personal or professional goals with a certified life coach over weekly or monthly sessions of 1 hour each. The number of sessions depends upon your goals and your preference.

What does life coaching involve?

Life coaching is a creative, thought-provoking and confidential process that will inspire you to maximise your personal and professional potential. A life coach will honour you as the expert of your life and work, and believe you are creative, resourceful and whole.

Life Coaching helps you:

• Discover, clarify, and align with what you want to achieve
• Explore options and alternatives that work best for you
• Elicit self-generated action plans and strategies
• Hold you responsible and accountable
• Gain direction, structure, hope and positivity
• This process helps you dramatically improve your outlook on work and life

Entrepreneurs, executives, business leaders, actors, musicians, managers, small business owners, professionals, parents and home-makers all can reach their goals with the help of a life coach. If there is a gap between where you are now and where you want to be, you will benefit from life coaching. Not only will your life coach help you close the gap, he/she will help you work through your limited or unhelpful beliefs, challenge you to think bigger and help you create a specific plan of action.

What can be discussed with a life coach?

There are many things you can choose to discuss with a life coach. Some examples are:

• Managing career transitions
• Transitioning to a different life stage
• Starting a business
• Growing a business
• Dealing with work-life balance issues
• Making an important decision
• Making an important transition
• Overcoming time management problems
• Struggling with clearing clutter
• Getting organised
• Setting and achieving realistic goals and objectives
• Overcoming feeling stuck
• Filling a gap in skill or confidence
• Accelerating results
• Gaining clarity with choices to be made
• Planning for business, career or life
• Identifying and working on internal blocks and fears
• Creating financial security and independence
• Communicating powerfully and clearly
• Building depth in relationships
• Finding the ideal career/work or business
• Finding the ideal partner/love/relationship
• Identifying core values and passions
• Fulfilling personal and emotional needs

And much, much more…

How does life coaching differ from counselling?

Counselling is a safe space to discuss thoughts, feelings, behaviours and events from the past, present and future perspective. Life coaching is a safe space to discuss goals, behaviours, beliefs from a present and future perspective. Life coaching does not focus on the past and is therefore future oriented. Another distinction is that life coaching typically does not allow for too much of emotional processing of situations, unlike counselling where processing emotions is a critical part of the process. In life coaching, there is a focus on action plans and ways to move forward. If there are blocks from the past and there is a need for healing, the life coach may refer you to meet a counsellor.

How is life coaching delivered? What does the process look like?

Globally life coaching sessions mostly happen over the telephone. TalkItOver offers both face-to-face life coaching services and telephone life coaching services. We recommend the first session to be face to face as it helps build rapport with your life coach.

Each session is a one hour process. The sessions are spaced once a week, once a fortnight or sometimes once a month, depending on many factors. Typically a life coach will work with you for 4 to 6 months to ensure your goals are achieved.

The process begins with getting clarity on the outcome of the coaching relationship and the goals. Once realistic goals are created, then the coach will help you explore your current reality, internal blocks and future alternatives and options. Consequently, an action plan is created and implemented to achieve desired outcomes.

Benefits of Using a Life Coach

There are several benefits of having a certified life coach support you. Some of them are:

• An accountability partner – your life coach keeps you accountable to your goals and action plans thereby ensuring you reach your desired outcome
• A safe space to explore yourself – life coaches are trained in specific competencies like listening, empathy and questioning that helps create a safe and non-judgemental space to explore your thoughts and ideas freely
• A sounding board – your life coach will often act like a sounding board helping you gain clarity on desired goals and outcomes
• An evidence based process for growth – studies have shown that having a life coach has increased the probability of achieving results than otherwise

Take control of your life today.

Individual Counselling

Discuss and explore any area of your life with a counsellor over weekly sessions of 1 hour each. The number of sessions depends on the area you wish to address and your goals.

What does Individual Counselling involve?

• Paying attention to yourself. TalkItOver is about paying attention to yourself by discussing your thoughts and feelings about any area of  your life that you may wish to explore and understand better in a safe and confidential setting.
• A collaborative relationship with a professionally trained counsellor. Your counsellor listens and seeks to understand your point of view, drawing from various counselling psychology theories and techniques, to faciliate a process that helps you gain clarity and look at the issue from different perspectives. Your counselor helps you work towards your goals  by forming a genuine, accepting and collaborative relationship with you. Successful counselling requires you to take responsibility for change in your life.
• Finding your own answers. You are the expert in your own life. Your counsellor helps you discover your own answers instead of giving ready-made solutions or advice.

Benefits of  Individual Counselling

In our experience, after counselling, people have shared that they “feel lighter”, “gain clarity”, “learn more about themselves and others”, “feel less stuck or overwhelmed”, “feel energized”, “feel good, positive and hopeful”, “take decisions and actions”, “see positive changes”, “improve relationships” and so on. Numerous research studies have also found counselling in general to be effective.

• Understanding emotions and feeling comfortable: Bottled up or unexpressed emotions can become more intense and confusing. Talking about these emotions freely helps you come to terms with them and feel more comfortable and ready to take action.
• Neutrality and objectivity: Compared to family or friends,  talking to a counsellor brings in objectivity and helps you explore  different perspectives. A counsellor does not impose his or her values or beliefs on you, instead focusing on your own.
• Increased self-awareness: A warm understanding relationship helps you accept yourself more fully and be true to yourself. This results in more self-aware and informed decisions and actions on your part.