What is 'counselling' about? How does it work?

Counseling is "talk therapy." Hypnosis is one technique used in counseling/psychotherapy, but it is not the only way counseling is done and in fact is rather rare. Usually counseling involves talking to the counselor about what is bothering you, what you have tried to do about it, what has helped and what has not helped. The counselor may help you to change the way you think about your problem (cognitive behavioral therapy, which is very popular at the present time), help you to change very specific behaviors, help you learn to manage your anxiety through a variety of ways, or help you understand how your problem came to be. It would be very unusual and not very likely for a counselor to try to "erase" unpleasant memories. In the first place, that is basically impossible and secondly, counseling that deals with past events (many kinds of counseling deal with present behavior only) is aimed at helping you understand past events in a different way. Counseling very seldom is only one session long (10 or 12 sessions is probably the most common length of time). If you think after one or two sessions that you are not feeling better because the counselor does not understand you or you don't like their techniques, you need to find a different counselor; the relationship between the client and counselor is most important for a good outcome. If you don't feel any different at all after completing counseling, then perhaps it is not for you. Unless you are court ordered into counseling, it is a voluntary process; no one can make you do it.