Difference between Counseling and Psychotherapy

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COUNSELING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

Counseling is a professional relationship established voluntarily by an individual who feels the need of psychological help, with a person trained to provide that help.

Psychotherapy is any procedure designed to alleviate behavioral disorders by psychological means suggestions, psychoanalysis, counseling interviews, play activities and changes in the patient’s environment. applied when there is personality maladjustment or mental disorder.

COUNSELING
PSYCHOTHERAPY
Helps people identify problems, crises, and encourages them to take positive steps to resolve these issues.
Helps people with psychological problems that have built up over the course of a long period of time.
It is the best course of therapeutic treatment for anyone who already has an understanding of well being and who is also able to resolve problems.
It will help you understand your feelings, thoughts and actions more clearly.
Counseling is a short term process that encourages the change of behavior.
Psychotherapy is a long-term process of treatment that identifies emotional issues and the background to problems and difficulties.

CREATING A HELPING RELATIONSHIP
1. Allow the person and peer support giver to get to know each other and possibly decide whether working together would be fruitful. The peer support giver should take the lead in structuring and providing an atmosphere of trust;
2. To create a relaxed, casual and non-threatening atmosphere with informal conversational style;
3. Rather than asking personal questions, the peer support giver can make self disclosures either to prompt self disclosures on the part of the person being helped or to allow the person to become more comfortable with the relationship;
4. The use of silence can be valuable as silence allows the person to share an issue at a level he or she feels comfortable with;
5. If a friend or relative is there with the person, accept it as natural;
6. Communicate warmth, caring, genuineness and respect in a natural manner;
7. Explore the person's perception of world. i.e.) explore how they view traditional values, family, living situation, family closeness, support system, and expectations;
8. Use concrete words in identifying feelings and meaning as the problem is explored in the beginning of the helping process, and be concrete in problem solving;
9. Empathic and use phrases that help him or her identify their situation, including feelings and thoughts;
10. Able to give feedback that is specific, precise, non judgmental and focuses on strengths.
11. At the end of the session, ask the person what they would like to do or ask, "if there was a 'magical solution' what would it be ?";
12. Match the person's body language and avoid intense eye contact.