Counselling And Psychotherapy

The terms counselling and psychotherapy are often used interchangeably and there is, in fact, much overlap between these two approaches. In the sense that both are ‘talking therapies’ which aim to support the healing and growth of the individual, and where the relationship that develops between therapist and client is an essential part of the healing process, there is in fact significant similarity.

The divergence is generally understood to be related to the degree to which the therapy addresses earlier family of origin material (psychotherapy) rather than current life issues (counselling).

Whereas counselling involves the exploration of feelings and attitudes with a counsellor to gain clarity and develop new or improved life skills, psychotherapy holds as its focus the working through of enduring core psychological themes or patterns stemming from childhood that are causing recurrent problems in the person’s life.

In some senses it is impossible to claim an ‘either/or’ treatment approach, as it is probably more accurate to say that much counselling offered contains elements of psychotherapy and that most psychotherapy offered contains elements of counselling. Nevertheless, it can be helpful to understand the general distinction between these two approaches as it will have bearing on the sort of practitioner that will be most suited to your needs.

Qualified counsellors will often have trained within a university situation, either having an undergraduate or postgraduate qualification specifically in counselling. Psychotherapists mostly will have trained through undertaking, at a postgraduate level, at least a three year programme within a specific psychotherapy modality, such as Masterson psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Psychotherapy training is generally conducted by private training organisations rather than universities.

A means of determining whether a counsellor or psychotherapist has recognised levels of training and experience is to source a practitioner listed on the National Register of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA).