The Difference Between Counselling & Psychotherapy

If you're considering starting therapy, it's crucial to know the difference between counselling and psychotherapy. It might be challenging to admit when you need support. However, making sure you receive the appropriate support is advantageous once you have decided to seek help.

In addition to certain distinctions, there are overlaps between psychotherapy and counselling. You can use this information to help you decide which kind of therapy is best for you. This article is only meant to serve as a guide because every therapist has a distinct approach and level of training and reading how to choose a therapist.

What Counsellors and Psychotherapists help with

A counsellor is more likely to assist with a particular challenge, present issue, or surface problem. A loss or a challenge that isn't always related to the past. For deeper issues that impact a client's life, a psychotherapist is more likely to be able to assist with trauma or child abuse are two examples.

However, a counsellor or psychotherapist could be helpful for either kind of problem. While a counsellor may assist a client with an issue brought on by external events, a psychotherapist may assist a client with psychological challenges in life that are caused by internal issues.

How long does counselling and psychotherapy last?

The duration of counselling is probably going to be several weeks or months. Psychotherapy usually lasts several months or years and is open-ended. This is due to the fact that while psychotherapy may treat issues that have their roots in the past, counselling may help with present-day challenges.

Psychotherapy is more involved and helps with long-term changes, such as rebuilding parts of the mind or personality, whereas existing personality structures are supported by counselling.

Techniques

Techniques are used by both psychotherapists and counsellors. Active listening techniques, demonstrating empathy, paraphrasing, pondering, and asking clarifying questions are a few examples. However, a psychotherapist is probably going to employ a more complex set of methods to help their client. Working with neural networks, the neurological system, or the unconscious are a few examples. Among the methods could include visualising, EMDR, or play therapy.

Training

Every training institution is diverse, offering a range of training qualifications that vary in length and quality. Regarding theory, the actual practice of therapy, and placement experience, there is frequently overlap. Both might or might not include a method for personal growth, which indicates that as a student therapist they attended therapy themselves. In order to obtain their certification, a psychotherapist may have worked with clients for a long time. Counsellors and psychotherapists may also have a specialism or training that enables them to help with particular issues through a particular method.

All the information in this article is a rough guide only and does not necessarily represent the reality of what a specific counsellor or psychotherapist does in reality. It is important to do your own research on the therapist that you are going to see.