While you may have relatives or friends who will listen and commiserate with you, counseling is done by meeting with a trained and experienced mental health professional. Nobody but the counselor will know what you talk about - there is no gossiping of what you discussed.  I will help you understand and come up with ways of dealing with problems. We may help you identify a mental health or substance abuse problem and treat that problem. Or we may just help you learn new skills or tools to help you handle life better. These might be skills that help you talk to others better, or take better care of yourself when you are stressed. You might learn how to say no when you need to, or how to make better decisions. Some topics that are often talked about in counseling include: What are your strengths? Who supports you when times get tough? What do you keep doing over and over that isn’t helpful? How can you do something different? How are you living by your values? What do you want in life, and how can you get there? I have found it is best to ask for help even if you are not sure your problem is big enough to need professional counseling. Counselors can help you figure out what might be going on and what you could do about it. They also can make referrals to other helpful services.  Sometimes people come in and in one session we can determine what course they should take and go on with their lives.  In other cases, it takes longer. There are many different signs that might tell you that you should try counseling. A few of these are: Feeling unhappy for no reason; Not being satisfied with your life; Having trouble making decisions; Having trouble setting or reaching goals; Being tired for no reason Feeling hopeless ; Changes in sleeping or eating; Acting in ways that you don't like ; Acting in ways that get you in trouble; Problems with alcohol or drugs; Relationship problems; Having trouble at work; Thinking about death a lot or thinking of hurting yourself;