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Kashish Chugh is a dedicated student counsellor navigating her final year of studies. Throughout 2025, we will follow Kashish’s journey as she balances academics, practical experience, and personal growth on her path to becoming a professional counsellor. Through her monthly blog, she will share insights, challenges, and valuable lessons, offering a real and relatable perspective on life as a final-year counselling student. Stay tuned for an inspiring year ahead!

The Power of Showing Up: Reflections from My First ACA Conference

Walking into the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) Conference as a counselling student was a moment I’ll remember for a long time. I felt a swirl of emotions—nervous, curious, proud. Nervous because I was entering a space filled with experienced professionals; curious to learn everything I could; and proud because, as an international student from India, I knew I was carrying not just my name but a small piece of my community with me.

 

One of the sessions that left a deep impression on me was led by Bel Ryan. She began by giving each of us three pipe cleaners and asked us a simple yet profound question: How are you? We were invited to bend and twist the colourful wires to create a shape that expressed our answer. What struck me was how every single person in that room came up with something completely different.

I was paired with a woman in her 60s. Her creation looked tangled and chaotic. When I asked what it meant to her, she said, “This is me—caught in the middle of family responsibilities, overwhelmed, like a tornado inside.” She shared that her husband was living with schizophrenia, her daughter had bipolar disorder and was off her medication, and how isolating and exhausting caregiving felt.

Then we were asked to “change” our creations—add, straighten, detangle, do whatever felt needed. When she gently adjusted the shape, I asked why she hadn’t unfolded it completely. She smiled softly and said, “I can’t undo what I’ve lived, but I can make space to breathe.”

That exchange has stayed with me. It reminded me why I chose this path in the first place. Therapy isn’t always about “fixing” things. Sometimes, it’s about sitting beside someone while they find the space to breathe.

Being in that room—with students, seasoned counsellors, educators, and visionaries—shifted something in me. It wasn’t just about absorbing knowledge or networking (though I certainly did both); it was about belonging. Not as someone who had to earn her place—but as someone who was already enough by showing up, learning, listening.

I often say this blog series isn’t about inspiring others as much as it is about practising what I preach—acknowledging myself, celebrating growth, and holding space for all the feelings that come with this journey.

Attending the ACA Conference as a student writer and representative was a full-circle moment. I felt seen—not just for my work, but for my voice. And while this may be one milestone, I also know it’s just the beginning. There’s so much more to become.

To every counselling student reading this: you don’t need to wait to “arrive” somewhere to start belonging. You’re already part of the landscape. Walk in with your questions, your story, your tangled pipe cleaner—because the room is better with your presence in it.

Thank you, ACA, for holding that space. And to me—for showing up with an open heart.

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