This is how I cope', 'This is me', or, 'I don't need any one's help' glibly roll off their tongue when the reality is not only that the cannot cope but, tragically, don't know' how to ask for help. Because the have never learnt how. There are those who may well consider that admitting there is a problem, is itself a sign of weakness. What they haven't recognised is that asking for support is a sign of strength and personal growth. This hidebound attitude locks them inside their narrow world, isolated, with an escalating problem, when seeking professional counselling would not only afford an opportunity to view the problem from a different perspective, but allow them to move their boundaries and learn from the experience.
Statistics show that the number of people seeking counselling is on the increase.
Perhaps the answer to the increasing demand for counselling lies in the breakdown of the family unit and social structure after the last World War. Historically, the family unit offered support to each individual within it. Around the family there was usually an extended family of close relatives and behind that was a close-knit community, backed up by the family doctor and local vicar. Within this tightly woven environment, people were offered the opportunity to grow, learn, and discover themselves. Families lived a routine life, no matter what their place was on the social ladder.