As a counsellor, I believe it very important to support individuals by raising their awareness to the benefit a variety of coping skills can bring. The most obvious of these is talking about your thoughts and feelings with people that care about you. In addition to this, there are a number of tools that can be useful to have in your toolkit. For instance, I find there is value to almost all people, in learning how to set healthy boundaries in relationships, building a support network, and achieving the right balance between professional and personal life along with all the aspects of looking after yourself needed to satisfy your emotional, physical and spiritual needs. Mapping these out in visual forms can really help cement a commitment to making positive changes on this front. I find that a lot of my clients feel empowered by having practical ways of taking steps toward meaningful changes that improve their lives. Whilst I am often thanked for my helping hand, I constantly remind individuals to give credit to themselves for taking on board the suggestions I have made and their efforts in implementing new good habits that promote and maintain their well-being. It is an absolute joy when a client reports positive results from putting a strategy into practice. With results comes hope, and with hope comes motivation to keep on working on getting yourself better. Integrating a few tools into the counselling can make it easier to keep a focus on the most important priorities that each person brings. Whilst it is always the individuals choice whether we do this or not, it does seem to aid new insights and self-understanding. Other examples include practicing gratitude, self-praise, journaling, positivity diaries, rethinking skills, and emotional management skills like grounding techniques and mindfulness. Please get in touch if youd like some help and to find out more.