Doctor's Confusion: Passion for Counseling and Practical Realities.

I started learning about counseling because I really wanted to understand how our minds work and help people who needed support. During my initial phase of clinical practice, I decided to spend some of my free time at the clinic doing counseling sessions, thinking that if I got certified, people would see me as an expert. I also thought combining Homeopathy with counseling could be a good way to take care of both the mind and body.

But, it turned out that counseling is more complicated than I thought.

I've met many Homeopathic doctors who, at some point in their careers, think about offering counseling as an important service. I believe that sharing my experience can help them.

Reasons for Learning Counseling:

1) Passion for Understanding the Mind: I was curious about how our minds function and their complexities, and that curiosity drove me to learn about counseling.

2) Interest in Caring: I was passionate about helping people suffering by providing them with the support and guidance they needed to navigate through their challenges.

3) Free Time Utilization: Having ample free time during the initial days of the clinic allowed me to fully dedicate myself to counseling, with daily sessions and patient interactions.

4) Got Certified for Authority and Expertise: I wanted to be seen as an authority and expert in counseling, so I thought getting a counseling certificate would help. I believed that practical learning and experience were important for becoming really good at it.

5) Additional Revenue Stream: Recognizing counseling as a source of additional income added to the decision to learn and include it in my practice.

6) Integration with Homeopathy: I believe that using homeopathic medications along with counseling sessions could provide a complete and holistic approach to taking care of a person's mental well-being. It was about treating the mind and body together for overall mental health.
Reasons for Stopping Active Participation:

1) Not Primary Profession: Realizing that counseling wasn't my primary profession, I understood that my expertise as a doctor lay in another domain.

2) Acknowledgment of Other Experts: I realized that there are people who are specially trained in counseling, so I decided to let them handle counseling cases instead of trying to do it all by myself. I wanted to give importance to their expertise and experience in managing these situations.

3) Ineffectiveness in Some Cases: Dealing with situations where my counseling sessions didn't work well for both me and the clients made me feel frustrated. It made me realize that there are some cases where I might not know the best way to handle things.

4) Energy Drain: The sincere efforts put into counseling became emotionally draining, leading to fatigue, stress, and a sense of being emotionally worn out.

5) Financial Constraints of Clients: Many individuals needing counseling need more financial means to pay for the services, making it hard to keep the counseling services going.

6) Time Constraints: The increasing demand for counseling started to impact the time available for my primary practice, causing delays for my homeopathy patients.

7) Limited Follow-Up from Clients: Counseling patients often did not come for adequate follow-up, which may be attributed to various reasons such as lack of interest, financial constraints, or time limitations.

8) Cases Beyond Counseling Scope: Some cases, such as inter-caste or inter-religious relationships, fell beyond the traditional counseling scope, requiring a different approach.

9) Misconceptions about Counseling: Some clients expected counseling to replace the need for psychotropic medications, leading to disappointing results when counseling alone was not sufficient.
                            Looking back, my journey into counseling started with a lot of passion and a real desire to help people. However as I faced challenges and realized there were limitations, I decided to take a step back from actively doing counseling. However, I'm still running the counseling center, so people can get help from professionals. This way, I can concentrate more on being a doctor, which is my main job. This experience taught me the importance of balancing what I'm passionate about with what makes practical sense in my profession.