TCA are proud to offer a wide variety of services across Dundee, Perth and Angus – from 1:1 sessions, mentoring, group support and everything in between, there’s a project to support anyone!

This ‘Service Spotlight’ series aims to showcase the range of services TCA offers to individuals, families and the community. To kick things off, we’re beginning with Adult Counselling. One of our longest running projects and available across all three office areas, our 1:1 support sessions for adults have changed the lives of many throughout the years. Adult counselling is suitable for individuals who are considering behaviour change with regards to alcohol, cocaine, NPS, cannabis or gambling. We also support those affected by another’s substance use.

To really capture the importance of the Adult Counselling service, we hosted a Q&A with one of our current counsellors Paul:

Who do you think can benefit most from TCA’s Adult Counselling Service?

• “People who struggle with substance use – alcohol or drugs, any kind of addiction really, including gambling. We also support people who are affected by the substance use of family members. That’s often a difficult thing, to see someone else going through problems and you consider how best you can support them. So we can offer a range of support to people who are affected by their own or someone else’s substance use.”

How has your experience as a counsellor for TCA been so far?

• “I’ve enjoyed working within TCA, I’ve enjoyed working with all the clients I’ve supported so far. It’s just amazing to see a variety of different people from all walks of life, all sorts of backgrounds, just different areas of life. The experiences that we help people through are not unique to one kind of person or one group of people. It’s been interesting and a good experience for me to be able to deal with the problems that lie underneath some of the behavioural changes people want to make. A lot of the time alcohol is a factor, but in fact there are other issues which lie underneath, and the alcohol is just an expression of what the problem is. So often, you’re supporting not only the change in drinking behaviours, but also the underlying features of what causes them to consume alcohol – that’s been really interesting.”

• “It’s also been good to work with a team of people who supporting in different ways. It’s not just counsellors within the service, we’ve got various support staff members within the workplace who help people in very practical ways to make changes in their life. When you look at the whole range of services on offer, they come together to form a bigger package to help and support people through their challenges.”

Could you please tell us a little bit about your work as a counsellor?

• “I came into this quite a bit later in life – I’ve always had an interest in psychology and early on in my career I completed psychological qualifications, but I was working in education and then laterally in education and social work. Even though I did use the skills from these qualifications, it wasn’t in a practical way. So, I decided to take early retirement and really look into counselling and psychotherapy, and I decided to go back to university too. That’s how I ended up here and it’s really been a new lease of life for me. I wanted to find something that was different from the work I’d been doing before, something that was quite people-centred. I knew about TCA through former jobs I’d been in and so I knew they were a really sound organisation as I’d seen how their services supported projects and people. That’s something that’s been good, working in an organisation that is completely person and family-focused. What I really like about the work is that most of it is one-to-one and you’re really just dealing with the person in the room. You can give your time, concentration and empathy entirely to that person for a period of time – that is quite a unique and privileged thing to be able to do. To be able to enter their life and hear where they are and what their challenges are as well as where they want to be, it’s a privilege. I think often in jobs you don’t really have that kind of opportunity to be focused, but even though there is still paperwork and other things you do, the core of it is that one-to-one interaction. I think that’s what I’ve enjoyed most.”

What’s your favourite thing about working for TCA?

• “The work itself is good, but I do like being able to work with other people who have a common sense of purpose. Again, people who come from a range of different backgrounds and experiences. You get people who come to TCA from all sorts of places and that brings a lot of life experience with it. It’s nice being able to feel like you’re working with others collaboratively to do something of value. Practical value. There’s a need that’s there and you’re helping to meet that need directly. It’s quite linear in terms of the effect that you actually see – you might not always see people changing, and it doesn’t always happen, but there is definitely a linear relationship between what you do and what happens. In other jobs, it is difficult to see the impact of your work. Even if you don’t always see the end point, there is no sense of futility in the work I do here.”

How has working for TCA in the counselling service changed or developed your experience?

• “It helps you gain an appreciation for life, and it gives you real perspective, which is a tremendous thing to have. When you see people make changes in their life, it helps you think that you can change as well, all while giving you hope. You see a lot of courage displayed by people who may be struggling with a range of things, yet they still come in and still try to change. I’ve learned a lot about the resilience of people too. You feel the experience on both a personal and professional level. It’s given me the opportunity to input my own life experiences. It gives you an opportunity to try and do whatever you can to assist people, all while knowing that it’s the people themselves who make the changes. You don’t bring about any change yourself, and instead you are a witness to it. Really, you’re trying to help get people across the finish line, but when you see them making decisions and see the changes happening, it’s a tremendous thing.”

If you were to describe TCA as an organisation to someone who has never heard of us before, what word or phrase would you use?

• “TCA is so many things, and it covers so much. But I think it’s kind of like an oasis. When you think about what an oasis is, it’s a source of life for people who are in need-People who are often struggling. The oasis provides refreshment and nutrition, it gives them a chance to live and to change. It gives them hope, I suppose. So I think TCA is an oasis of hope, rather than an oasis of water.”

If you feel that you or someone you know could benefit from our counselling service, or if you’d just like some confidential advice, please get in touch!

Call: 01382 456012 📞