I have often wondered about Catholic confession. Let’s say you confess a sin and the priest tells you to pray etc. Is there not some form of counseling with the confession? I’m not Catholic or anything and I was just wondering.
The wonderful thing about Confession is that GOD forgives and forgets the sin.
When people say they confess their sins straight to God, they do not know that.
You asked about counseiling of some sort — my priest will usually give me some reading to do as a Penance — last time it was Psalm 51. The counseling was in the Psalm! As I pulled out my Bible and read it, I realized how wise my priest was — sending me back to Holy Scripture.
Often there is some counseling addressing a specific sin and how to avoid it and /or reconcile the situation. They may ask questions to clarify the situation. Both of my recent confessors have been excellent at helping me grow in faith by their wise counsel.
I went today. Its great. It helps to talk to a person with authority. It comes from the Bible John 20:21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
A psychiatrist told Father Goeschel that if every body went to the confessional he would be out of business.
The counseling comes before absolution and the Act of Contrition. It's usually short and to the point. Penance, the real name of the sacrament, can be formulaic. Go in, make the Sign of the Cross (no priest worth their salt objects to this), say "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned, it has been XXX since my last confession," say what you need to about your sins, receive the counseling and a Penance you must serve before the sacrament is complete (this can be anything from a single prayer to reading a Bible passage to anything the priest wants), say the Act of Contrition, receive absolution. With a screen, it's pretty painless.