Counselling and Psychotherapy provide an opportunity for people to explore problems they may be experiencing or to talk through traumatic or distressing events in their lives. Sharing these with a trained professional can help you to come to terms with your feelings and find solutions to your problems.
Psychotherapy will allow you to examine feelings, actions and thoughts and to learn how to evaluate and adjust where appropriate. Counselling will enable you to explore personal development and to create adjustments to your life. Making a distinction between the two forms of therapy allows a better understanding of the process involved throughout the course of therapy. Both methods provide people with a way of dealing with change psychologically.
Counselling
Counselling is a type of talking therapy that allows a person to talk about their problems and feelings in a confidential and dependable environment.
A counsellor will offer a specialised service of communication that concentrates on providing a structure to the counselling experience. It helps people to identify problems and crises and encourages them to take positive steps to resolve these issues. It is a short-term process that encourages the change of behaviour.
A counsellor is trained to listen with empathy (by putting themselves in your shoes). They can help you deal with any negative thoughts and feelings you have.
Counselling is related to assisting clients in resolving problems in the here and now and mobilising clients’ strengths to assist in this process.
Psychotherapy
The aim of psychotherapy is to help clients overcome a wide scope of concerns. These concerns range from emotional difficulties to psychiatric disorders.
Psychotherapy helps people with psychological problems that have built up over the course of a long period of time. It will help you understand your feelings, thoughts and actions more clearly.
Psychotherapy is a longer-term process of treatment that identifies emotional issues and the background to problems and difficulties.
It can be more helpful for past trauma such as sexual abuse, rape or for complex bereavement.
Psychotherapists can choose from a wealth of approaches to help you understand and explore how you feel. Some therapists also teach skills to help you manage difficult emotions more effectively.
For more severe conditions, such as psychosis, a psychotherapist will normally work with other professionals (such as psychiatrists). This allows for an effective, robust treatment plan.
Psychotherapy can be understood as “a journey for understanding the self”
Although Counselling and Psychotherapy overlap considerably, there are also recognised differences. While the work of Counsellors and Psychotherapists with clients may be of considerable depth, the focus of Counselling is more likely to be on specific problems, changes in life adjustments and fostering clients’ wwell-being Psychotherapy is more concerned with the restructuring of the personality or self and the development of insight.
A Person-Centred therapist puts the trust in the client to work out what is best for them and to find ways of moving forward. The therapy isn’t directive or advice based but focuses on a relational process between the client and their therapist as well as all your other relationships.
The BACP (British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy) has produced information leaflets that you may find useful when looking for the right therapist for you. You can find their information by entering ‘Find a Therapist‘ into your search engine on your computer or by clicking the link.