A Llanelli man who battled depression is now helping others through his own counselling practice after retraining at Coleg Sir Gâr.
Marc Pieniazek graduated with a foundation degree in counselling which he studied at the college’s Ammanford campus. Before re-training, he’d experienced a significant period of depression and was at a crossroads in his life. “I’d worked in computing for around 15 years and I was becoming bored and frustrated with it,” said Marc. “Then my relationship of 12 years came to an end, and I was getting more and more depressed.” After some deep-rooted soul-searching and with the help of counselling, Marc considered changing his life path. With support from family and friends who pointed out his aptitude for listening to people and his ability to see both sides of an argument, he decided to give counselling a try and he believes that this decision led to his life calling. ”Everything started to fall into place and doors just opened,” he said.
Since his foundation degree, which he describes as an intense but a journey of personal growth, Marc cannot stress enough how much he supports accreditation for counselling practitioners. “It prepares you, it helps you deal with your own experience, you have to be responsible and know how to respond when others are bearing their souls and putting their trust in you,” he said. “You learn to use integrated therapies with your clients, dealing with people at their lowest point and accredited counselling training prepares you for that.”
One of Marc’s specialisms is helping people to regain their path and direction in life. Using integrated therapies, self-exploration and a person-centred approach helping people to realise and fulfil their life calling.
As a wheelchair user, Marc has to juggle logistical problems on a daily basis which includes his education. “The tutors at Coleg Sir Gâr have been fantastic,” he said. “I never felt excluded from anything, I had a really positive experience and felt very supported. They pro-actively ensured that facilities were accessible for me and that was an amazing experience.”
Marc has continued to volunteer at the Terence Higgins Trust, where he was placed during his course and he is also running his own business which can be found online at marcpieniazek.co.uk.