Blogs

13 November 2025

As the year draws to a close, I’ve been reflecting on what this journey has meant for me-not just as a counselling student, but as a person learning how to hold space gently, bravely, and honestly. If I had to summarise 2025 in one word, it would be acceptance.

Not the kind of acceptance that means forgetting, moving on too quickly, or pretending things don’t hurt. But the kind that says, “I cannot control everything, and that’s okay. I can learn to live with what life brings.” This year taught me that acceptance is not defeat-it is strength without resistance. It is choosing peace in situations that refuse to change.

One of the hardest moments of my year came when I felt like I wasn’t balancing everything well-my studies, placement, personal life, finances. I remember sitting alone and believing I had failed everyone: my professors, my family, the people who believed in me. There was a moment where I truly wondered whether I deserved to be here at all. That helplessness was heavy… but it also became a turning point.

Because somewhere in that heaviness, I realised: holding space for others demands that I first learn to hold space for myself.

As counsellors-in-training, we speak often about compassion, boundaries, empathy, and reflection. But it is an entirely different experience when you are forced to use these tools on yourself. When I paused long enough to observe my own emotions-my overwhelm, my pressure, my fears-I found that they softened. They stopped feeling like failures and began to feel like reminders: I am human first, counsellor second.

There was a moment during placement that affirmed this. A client reacted exactly the way I would have in their situation-emotionally, protectively, instinctively. But from the counsellor’s chair, I saw the bigger picture. I understood the layers beneath that reaction. And in that moment, I silently told myself: “You’re learning. You’re becoming.”

This year, I’m proud of the internal shifts I’ve made. I learned to handle silence with confidence instead of fear. I learned to show up consistently, even when I was tired or unsure. I learned to regulate myself with honesty, not avoidance.

Most importantly, I learned that growth doesn’t always look loud. Sometimes it looks like sitting with discomfort. Sometimes it looks like accepting what you cannot change. Sometimes it looks like trying again, in a quieter, gentler way.

As I prepare to step into a new year, there is one practice I want to carry with me: self-reflection without self-judgment. The ability to ask myself, “How am I, really?” and answer truthfully. The courage to meet myself where I am, not where I think I should be.

To future counselling students who will one day read this: You don’t need to have everything figured out. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to stay open-open to learning, open to unlearning, open to feeling deeply.

And to my January 2025 self-the one who was terrified, overwhelmed, and still hopeful- You did not fail. You grew. You became softer without becoming smaller. And every step you took brought you closer to the counsellor you are becoming.

Here’s to another year of learning to hold space-with awareness, with acceptance, and with heart.