The Storyteller & The Counsellor: What 2025 Taught Me About Teaching, Ethics, and Waffle
✍️This year felt different because, for the first time, I began to own being two things: a counsellor and a writer.
This shift wasn’t just about output (a book, A Practical Guide for Working Therapeutically With Teenagers and Young Adults, and 50+ weekly Substack articles, which I am proud of), it also brought a new, tangible accountability to my work. Writing reveals a different side to being a counsellor. It pushed me to fall into deep research holes, to really question what I believe, what is ethical, and to hold myself accountable in a more public way.
Publishing the book also meant more networking and speaking - something, if I’m honest, I have shied away from historically. But talking again allows a different way of processing, and questions from others open up new reflections.
On Substack, I’ve shared over 50 articles, filled with reflections and case studies, and connected with professionals around the world. Ana Lund was the inspiration for my most read article and for this one, my reflections of 2025. Ordinary Therapist manages to make me feel like I have a therapy friend waiting in the staff room, sharing both profound insights, funny comments, and showing me articles and notes from other professionals. A recommendation for Therapist Who Came Undone and Incidental Comics as well. You could look at this simply as digital networking, but this year of writing and meeting fellow therapeutic writers has fundamentally changed how I approach content, training, and even the ‘big names’ in therapy.
My most-read article was ‘Training Standards,’ read by over 270 of you here. That tells me we are all beginning to question the quality and ethics of our teachings, pushing each other to evaluate our CPD.
And the proof of the story’s power? When I shared Will’s story (from Silence, Silence, Silence and a Relationship) with professionals at the Therapy Network North East last meeting, I wasn’t sure they were expecting an old-school story time. But fellow therapists shared they felt really validated. The power of a story, indeed. I’m looking forward to telling more!
A line-drawn illustration of a therapist telling a story to fellow practitioners.
📈Why I Can’t Answer the ‘What Were the Trends?’ Question
2025 in the therapy room with young people and people in transition has been busy, and I am forever complimented by the fact that my schedule is full with people trusting me with their story.
As the year comes to a close, I’ve seen the question pop up in a few forums: “What themes or trends have you seen emerge in your counselling room this year?” While it would make for a neat, clickable article, I have to be honest: I can’t answer it.
How can we responsibly compress hundreds of hours of counselling - many narrative threads woven with enormous variety in backgrounds, life stages, privilege, trauma, and biology - into a few bullet points?
The one trend that continues to worry me is apparent more outside the counselling room, where options for signposting and referrals dwindle, waiting lists stretch out endlessly, and young people and their families crying out for help are dismissed as not being in need enough. Many of my intake calls involve me apologising for the experiences they have suffered in the education/health/social services systems so far.
This year, my biggest growth was realising that the trend doesn’t matter as much as the individual balance.
Recently, I have been considering with a client, where we find the balance in the power of connection, shared time and a safe space and discussing the ‘heavy stuff’. This links directly back to Will, who found his breakthrough in therapy through playing a game in the counselling room.
I will forever be assessing this balance, but I have found more faith in talking about this balance directly with clients and making joint decisions about what suits them best. The agency is theirs, not a clinical decision.
🔮 Looking Ahead: Owning the Label
I’m not one for the New Year’s Resolution pressure; we can start afresh any time. But I am looking forward to owning that I am a writer as well as a therapist. I am excited to own that label, to continue falling into those research holes, creating new characters and joining them on their journeys, and to continue to develop my knowledge and skill as a counsellor by keeping accountability tangible.
A line illustration of a desk with laptop, notebook, plant and mug, looking out towards beautiful scenery.
It’s lovely to share a few quiet moments with you today.
My closing question to you: What professional label or identity are you ready to explore in 2026?
Until next time,
💛🌿 Helen
If you’d like to support my work or are interested in learning more about working therapeutically with young people, you can:
📕Buy my book ☕ and/or Buy me a virtual toasted teacake or cuppa on Ko-fi 💛
📎 Author Note & Transparency: I recommend resources based on a combination of clinical experience and consideration of available evidence. Any suggestions below are offered for interest, not as endorsements of scientific efficacy. Please apply your own critical judgment.