There is a huge overlap between counselling and psychotherapy. The following offers a comparison but there are no hard and fast rules and what follows below is a general description.
Counselling
Focuses on short-term, or current issues.
- Involves talking therapy.
- Therapy tends to focus on specific behaviours or situations.
- Therapy is often short term. (weeks rather than months)May deal with functioning individuals who are experiencing difficulties in their current situation.
- Therapy may focus on behaviours and actions.
- Therapy may focus on support, guidance, and problem-solving for current issues.
Psychotherapy
Focuses on recurring or chronic issues.
Psychotherapy can be challenging
- A psychotherapist may use various forms of therapy talking, cognitive behavioural, art, drama, music, animal, and movement.
- A Psychotherapist focus on a person’s entrenched and long-held patterns of thought and behaviour.
- Therapy may be long term. (months rather than weeks)
- Psychotherapists often have a degree in psychology before they embark on further post graduate training in therapy.
- Therapy may focus on a psychological disorder or problem with psychological functioning.
- Therapy may use experiences and feelings as the basis.
- Therapy may focus on personal growth from an in-depth focus on core issues.