Experimental Psychology Research Paper
A.N.Z.J. Fam. Ther., 2000, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp 73±80
Counselling and Psychotherapy: Is There a
Difference? Does It Matter?
Hugh Crago*
The terms `counselling ' and `psychotherapy ' are often employed in a loosely interchangeable way, especially in Australia.
Where distinctions are made, there has been little agreement on what each term should cover. This article examines several axes on which `counselling ' might potentially be distinguished from `psychotherapy '; the most promising basis for such a distinction seems to be whether or not the mode of work attempts to access the unconscious. On this basis, several modalities currently termed `therapy ' would in fact be classed as types of `counselling ', including those modalities of family therapy which aim to engage clients at the level of conscious behaviour change and restructuring. Consideration of how new professionals are trained lends support to a continuum, with short-term, problem-focused conscious-oriented approaches at one end, and longer-term, transference-focused, unconscious-oriented approaches at the other, the dividing line coming at the point where trainees learn the skill of `immediacy '.
to feel uncomfortable making. My university offered two programs: a shorter Master of Education award in `Counselling ', and a longer Master of Arts award in Counselling
Psychology, aiming to train `psychologists ' for clinical positions in Community Mental Health, where they would often be doing `psychotherapy '. Everyone seemed to know what the difference between `counselling ' and
`psychotherapy ' was, although exactly what it consisted in was rarely addressed. An introductory course called
`The Roles of Counsellor and Therapist ' set Impact and
Change: A Study of Counseling Relationships (Kell and Mueller,
1966). The `counselling ' in this book seemed to have a lot to do with transference (though that term was not employed) and stressed the counsellor 's `use of the
Counselling and Psychotherapy: Is There a
Difference? Does It Matter?
Hugh Crago*
The terms `counselling ' and `psychotherapy ' are often employed in a loosely interchangeable way, especially in Australia.
Where distinctions are made, there has been little agreement on what each term should cover. This article examines several axes on which `counselling ' might potentially be distinguished from `psychotherapy '; the most promising basis for such a distinction seems to be whether or not the mode of work attempts to access the unconscious. On this basis, several modalities currently termed `therapy ' would in fact be classed as types of `counselling ', including those modalities of family therapy which aim to engage clients at the level of conscious behaviour change and restructuring. Consideration of how new professionals are trained lends support to a continuum, with short-term, problem-focused conscious-oriented approaches at one end, and longer-term, transference-focused, unconscious-oriented approaches at the other, the dividing line coming at the point where trainees learn the skill of `immediacy '.
to feel uncomfortable making. My university offered two programs: a shorter Master of Education award in `Counselling ', and a longer Master of Arts award in Counselling
Psychology, aiming to train `psychologists ' for clinical positions in Community Mental Health, where they would often be doing `psychotherapy '. Everyone seemed to know what the difference between `counselling ' and
`psychotherapy ' was, although exactly what it consisted in was rarely addressed. An introductory course called
`The Roles of Counsellor and Therapist ' set Impact and
Change: A Study of Counseling Relationships (Kell and Mueller,
1966). The `counselling ' in this book seemed to have a lot to do with transference (though that term was not employed) and stressed the counsellor 's `use of the
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