Counsellors talking too much

[Haciendak]

I've had several counsellors over the years, the best being from mental health services such as Mind and bereavement services. They were always excellent.
I've come to realise that I am always going to benefit from having a consistent counsellor in my life, which can not be offered by these services, my prevention rather than cure approach.
So I've been exploring BACS approved private counsellors for a Few years now, but I always come across the same issue: private counsellors talk too much. I never get to the depth of my issues as I'm cut off regularly by their own long winded stories and I watch the clock as my time and money ticks away. I have tried maybe 4 private counsellors and discovered the same issues with each, putting me off trying any more, also I find it difficult to then muscle out of the sessions once I've seen them a few times.
I'd love to have long term reliable support from a private counsellors that I can see regularly but I'm becoming very dis-heartened.
Why are they all talking at me so much? Is it because I'm young and they think they can fix things with stories from their own lives? It seems to have become a regular problem, one I never experienced with established services.

Trained in counselling here too. There is a big difference between counselling and giving advice. The best advice for you is the conclusion you can come up with yourself; based on your intimate knowledge of your own situation. The only time I would ever disclose anything about myself during a session would be if self-disclosure was appropriate to show empathic understanding and initiate deeper discussion. Even then it is to be used sparingly and for the benefit of the client.

Definitely Girlinaswirl. I think that self disclosure has a place too. One counsellor once disclosed something to me that was very personal to her (one of the only things she ever did) as it was extremely relevant to my situation and it helped hugely once she did.
The counsellor I've been seeing now, told me atleast 4 stories about herself during our last session. I can see why she thought they may have been relevant but they seemed to go on and on and on. I never got to the bottom of what I wanted to explore.

hmm. And that's where the distinction falls Haciendak. Seems those sessions are more about the counsellor than you. Also; there is always a risk with self disclosure that what you think will help, can actually take the session off on an unhelpful tangent. A client should never feel that either you can't get a word in edgeways - or grossly misinterpreted. We were taught that you also regularly check in during self disclosure by saying , 'does this sound similar?' or 'are you finding this useful?'. Then you know you are not wasting valuable time and the agenda remains as the client's.