Written by Luke Gibson
I was completely swamped with life. Completing the Gold Coast Marathon three weeks earlier had left me recovering a whole lot more slowly than I’d imagined. The pressures of being halfway through a Diploma in Financial Counselling were taking their toll. With a looming 220-hour unpaid work placement, I was really starting to feel overwhelmed.
I also had a commitment to spending quality time with our 10-year-old son, who has special needs and had just returned to school for Term 3. Life was busy. On top of that, I was working as a disability support worker while managing my own chronic autoimmune disease, polymyalgia rheumatica. I was also assisting my wife in all aspects of life as she prepared for her fifth Ironman competition three months down the track. I seemed to have no time left in any given day.
Oh yeah – Session 2 had also started at Charles Sturt, where I was studying Foundations of Psychology 2, the fifth subject of my Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology). I needed help. I was completely snowed under.
I reached out to the counselling team at Charles Sturt and duly booked myself an appointment. I’d hoped that the counsellor would be able to create a highly secretive, parallel-universe portal that provided extra time beyond the 24 hours everyone else has in any given day, with the extra time allocated according to individual commitments or, in my case, overcommitments. Surely the time fairy could wave a wand and grant me at least two hours of extra time a day, three at a stretch, to tick off the items on my daily to-do lists?
Being realistic, I’d hoped to have some kind of chat with the counsellor who would provide reassurance that everything in life would be OK, and possibly email me through some generic, helpful time-management PDF documents.
When the time came for my first scheduled call, a week before the end of July, the Charles Sturt counsellor was everything I’d hoped she’d be and a lot more. She was empathetic, a great listener and someone who guided the conversation. I felt a lot better about life at the end of the call than I had at the start.
The counsellor helped me recognise what I’d achieved in the first half of the year and acknowledge how much better I was feeling in my second year of uni. No time-management PDF documents were required. Instead, she came up with one of several poignant, succinct summaries, including “Continue working towards a time-management system that fits you, rather than forcing a rigid structure”.
Other pearls of wisdom were to “focus on balance and sustainability, rather than trying to get everything done” and to “take regular moments to check in with your energy, emotions, and workload”.
Over the last few months, I’ve had two further phone sessions with this counsellor, who continues to listen intently, offer potential choices when I question my overcommitment and demonstrate a core tenet of counselling and psychology: to approach the client with unconditional positive regard.
After each of these three counselling sessions, I’ve increasingly felt empowered in my various life decision-making processes. I’ve been brave enough to understand and accept my level of overcommitment, leading me to conclude that I must pare things back to the absolute minimum, at least until the end of this Charles Sturt session.
By applying some of the techniques discussed with the counsellor, I’ve become more aware of potential stressors and learned to take the time to acknowledge and appreciate my surroundings. I’ve also changed my plans from running a full marathon towards the end of the year to running a half marathon! I also treated myself to a whirlwind trip to Sydney from home in Port Macquarie.
There are so many resources available through Charles Sturt for all students. Making the decision to speak to a Charles Sturt counsellor has not only been a valuable and rewarding experience but has also provided me with some much-needed guidance and empowerment in life. Regardless of your situation, these services are there to assist all students. All you need to do is ask.
Oh, and if anyone finds this magical time-increasing portal, can you please message me?
Thanks in anticipation…
For more information about counselling services at Charles Sturt, please visit: https://www.csu.edu.au/current-students/support/personal/counselling/sessions
Charlie blog is a SSAF initiative.
