{"id":13438,"date":"2026-07-15T21:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/?p=13438"},"modified":"2026-07-15T21:03:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T21:03:13","slug":"ccsl-training-empowers-lay-counsellors-to-provide-effective-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/ccsl-training-empowers-lay-counsellors-to-provide-effective-support\/","title":{"rendered":"CCSL Training Empowers Lay Counsellors to Provide Effective Support"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Josephine H. Koroma<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Over the past week, the Council of Churches in Sierra Leone continued to strengthen the counselling capacity of its Coordinators and Mentors across the sixteen (16) districts. This training challenged many assumptions that participants had long held about supporting people through difficult times. It was a week of learning and unlearning those words and phrases we choose can either create a safe space for healing or unintentionally deepen someone’s emotional pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Rev. Joseph Gbando from Bonthe District, Southern Sierra Leone, many people have grown accustomed to offering comforting phrases to family, friends, colleagues, and clients during moments of distress. Expressions such as “time heals all wounds,”<\/em> “it is well,”<\/em> “I understand how you feel,”<\/em> or “where there is life, there is hope”,<\/em> are often spoken with genuine care and compassion. Yet, this training revealed that, despite our good intentions, such statements may not always be helpful in a counselling context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These familiar expressions can unintentionally minimize a client\u2019s experience and feelings, offer false reassurance, or assume an understanding that may not exist. Rather than supporting the client, these statements can create false hope or invalidate their reality and that may leave clients feeling unheard or misunderstood. Professional counselling requires us to resist the urge to offer quick comfort or easy answers. Instead, it calls us to be fully present, to listen carefully, and to respond in ways that validate the client’s lived experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through practical counselling exercises and role-play sessions, participants were introduced to person-centred communication skills that promote empathy, respect, and genuine understanding. We learned that meaningful support often comes not from having the right words, but from creating space for clients to express themselves without fear of judgment or interruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most profound lessons from the training was the importance of recognizing and accurately identifying emotions and feelings. Many people struggle to name what they are feeling because they were never taught the language of emotions and feelings. Others have grown up in environments where expressing feelings was discouraged or perceived as a sign of weakness. As lay counsellors, we have a responsibility to help clients explore and articulate their feelings with greater clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than categorizing emotions simply as “good” or “bad,” we were encouraged to acknowledge the rich complexity of human feelings. Identifying emotions and feelings more specifically, whether someone feels disappointed, overwhelmed, anxious, ashamed, hopeful, or relieved. This helps clients feel seen, understood, and supported. Emotional validation does not mean agreeing with every perspective; it means recognizing that a person’s feelings are real and worthy of acknowledgement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The training also broadened understanding of the role of counselling itself. Counselling is not reserved solely for individuals experiencing severe crises or trauma. It is a valuable resource for anyone seeking a safe, confidential, and non-judgmental space to reflect on life’s challenges, process emotions, breaking free from limiting patterns and make informed decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Effective counselling is about walking alongside people rather than directing their path. It is about listening more than speaking, asking thoughtful questions rather than offering quick solutions, and empowering clients to discover their own strengths and capacity for growth. Sometimes the greatest support we can offer is not a comforting phrase or a ready-made answer, but our genuine presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lessons from this training extend far beyond the counselling room. They are a reminder that by choosing words carefully, lay counsellors can support clients but also as family members, friends, colleagues, and members of our communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Josephine H. Koroma Over the past week, the Council of Churches in Sierra Leone continued to strengthen the counselling capacity of its Coordinators and Mentors [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":13439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[282,278],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-networks-news","category-sierra-leone-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13438"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13441,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13438\/revisions\/13441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peaceworkafrica.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}