Blogs

Kashish Chugh | Between Case Notes and Class Deadlines: Navigating Life as a Counselling Student

  

May 15, 2025

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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!

Between Case Notes and Class Deadlines: Navigating Life as a Counselling Student

If you ask me what it’s like being a counselling student, I’ll tell you it’s beautifully chaotic. One moment you’re discussing trauma-informed care in class, and the next, you’re trying to emotionally regulate yourself after a confronting client session—while staring at a reflective journal due at midnight.

The Juggle Is Real: Placement Meets Academia

Balancing client work and coursework is no small feat. I’ve found myself switching roles constantly, from student to counsellor to researcher, all within the same day.

Some days, my mind is full of theories from lectures. On others, I’m sitting with real stories from real people in placement that no textbook could prepare me for. And somewhere between those two, I’m submitting assessments that ask me to reflect on both.

I’ve learned to keep a notepad handy, not just for client notes, but for me – to track reflections, insights, moments I want to bring into class or supervision. It’s my way of integrating what often feels like two parallel worlds: the academic and the emotional.

When the Assessment Feels Heavier Than the Client Session

There’s a strange kind of pressure that comes with writing about what you’re doing while you’re doing it. Reflective writing has pushed me to be more honest than I expected – not just about my strengths, but about the moments I froze, doubted myself, or said too much.

At first, I felt I had to present a polished version of myself in these assessments. Now, I know that the learning lies in the unpolished parts – the moments I didn’t know what to do, but stayed anyway.

Holding Space for Others, While Holding It Together for Yourself

One of the more delicate parts of this journey has been learning to carry client stories without letting them sit too heavily inside me. After a difficult session, it’s not easy to snap back into uni-mode. And yet, that’s often what’s required of us.

I’ve found that setting small rituals around transitions – a walk, a quick voice note to myself, or even just breathing deeply before switching contexts, helps me leave what’s not mine to hold.

Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: to be fully present for others, I have to return to myself often.

Learning on the Edges of Discomfort

This journey isn’t linear. Sometimes growth comes in the form of an HD on an essay; sometimes it’s hidden in a supervisor’s pause that makes me rethink my entire approach.

I’ve learned to lean into discomfort. To let uncertainty teach me. To not have all the answers – and be okay with that. Because counselling, like learning, is never about being perfect. It’s about being present.

If You’re a Counselling Student Reading This...

You’re not alone. If you’re navigating assessments while holding your own healing, if you’re waking up early for class and staying up late with reflection logs – I see you.

You’re doing more than you think. You’re learning to hold space. You’re becoming someone people will one day trust with their most vulnerable truths.

And that, in itself, is no small thing.


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