This is the first of several blogs relating to the counseling process and how you, the reader, might benefit by what I offer.

Most people believe that the primary benefit derived from counseling is insight. Insight into their own behavior perhaps; in the form of “why do I do this or that” or “how will this change I’m thinking about doing really effect me?”

Another benefit is often seen as going to a place where one can express oneself freely and without judgment. This is often an exercise in “getting it all out…finally!”

A third commonly thought of benefit is being able to get “a professional’s opinion about what is going on in my life (or the lives of others) and what I can do about it”.

Don’t misunderstand, I completely support all the benefits described above and I think all are equally valid. But there is one very special benefit that I would like to focus on for a bit.

Neuroscience has confirmed that new neuro pathways, that is, new behaviors, can be established. In short, the good news is that people can change even long-established habits and behaviors. The question is, how can you benefit by these revelations? The answer is through counseling. A good counselor can help you build these new pathways by helping you establish new behaviors AND creating opportunities to practice these behaviors. The counseling relationship will help you rehearse and practice your new behaviors until they are integrated and become a part of you.

One of the emerging criticisms of conventional psychotherapy is that therapists can let their clients off too easy, not insisting that the new behavior sought is performed often enough to really stick. As a result, many former clients have complained that what they came to counseling for dissolved away and left them wondering what really happened and did they waste their time and money invested in change that was , in the end, illusive.

This last benefit is perhaps the most lasting.