Differences Between Terms

Published on May 2016 | Categories: Documents | Downloads: 44 | Comments: 0 | Views: 542
of x
Download PDF   Embed   Report

Comments

Content


Differences Between Terms
Guidance Counselling vs. Counselling/Psychotherapy
 Guidance approaches situations from the perspective that the guidance counsellor
has more information or better ways to reach decisions than the person receiving
the service. Guidance provides the client with expert advice and solutions, which
the client may or may not follow.
 Those who provide guidance counselling services use counselling skill-sets, but their
intentions tend to be more focused on helping clients make a decision(s) about
specific, important issue(s) (course selections, jobs, school choices) in their lives.
 Counselling and psychotherapy are processes that seek to help people improve their
well-being and increase their ability to solve problems and make decisions for
themselves both in and beyond the current situation. Therefore, counselling and
psychotherapy are considered more holistic than guidance. In contrast, guidance
focuses on assisting a person to make decisions that are usually time- and context-
limited. Of course, such decisions can, and usually will, have longer-term effects for
a person's life.
Counselling vs. Psychotherapy
 Both counselling and psychotherapy focus less on the content of a specific decision
than does guidance. Instead, both counselling and psychotherapy focus on helping
a person reach the decision that fits best for them with regard to their own values
and desires.
 Shorter-term work focused on dealing with a specific situation (marital breakup, loss
of job, etc.) is more likely to be called counselling than therapy (but this is not
always true).
 Persistent and pervasive patterns of maladaptive behaviour are likely to require
longer-term service provision, which is more likely to be called therapy. Such
situations also assume the need for greater expertise by the provider.
 Services provided by social workers, pastoral care counsellors, nurses, vocational
guidance personnel, and school psychologists are more likely to be
labelled counselling than psychotherapy/therapy. Sometimes the employer
mandates this nomenclature, and sometimes the service provider prefers this
designation.
 Psychiatrists and (some) psychologists are more likely to call their services therapy
than are other care providers. This might be due to history, licensure, specific
training, etc.
 Service providers who use diagnostic systems, such as the DSM, are more likely to
call their servicestreatment (yet another term). Sometimes this term is mandated
by the institution they work for and sometimes the practitioner views the service as
treatment. Those who view themselves as providing treatment are more likely to
call what they do therapy (possibly because this fits with the medical model).



Introduction
This essay will critically consider the points of similarity and differences between counselling
and psychotherapy. After briefly considering what counselling and psychotherapy are, it will
firstly outline the broad arguments for the differences between the two and evaluate the
validity of these assertions. Then it will look at the points of similarity, again critically
considering these various points.
Psychotherapy can perhaps be defined as the process in which a therapist helps the client
in the process of re-organising their personality. The therapist also helps the client integrate
insights into everyday behaviour. Counselling may be seen as a process of helping clients
overcome obstacles to personal growth. According to the professional body for counselling
and psychotherapy in Scotland, COSCA: “ Counselling and psychotherapy are ways of
responding to a wide range of human needs. Counselling and psychotherapy provide
opportunities for those seeking help to work towards ways of living in more satisfying and
resourceful ways. ” (2004:1). Though this definition puts counselling and psychotherapy
under the same umbrella it also goes on to say that both are constantly changing fields of
practice. Therefore that it is not possible to have a definite fix on what they are.
The issue of similarity or difference is certainly one that attracts much debate. Some insist
that psychotherapy and counselling are very similar, even identical. Others think that they
are very different or at least differ fundamentally on certain points. So we have a situation
that appears to elude universal definition. Christine Webber (2005) points out one very
practical source of confusion: “ Sometimes therapists advertise in both the counselling and
psychotherapy sections. And if they also have a qualification in hypnosis they often put
themselves into the hypnosis section, too. So one therapist can be listed under all three
headings
i
. ”
Also to make matters even more complicated is the problem that psychotherapy as a word
may be off putting to some people. Therefore, regardless of what they actually do in
practice, a therapist may simply call himself or herself a counsellor as it is a more neutral
term. James Chriss has noted: “ If people feel that “psychotherapy” is too pretentious a
word to apply to what they do, they describe what they do as counselling, and so we have
student counsellors, marriage guidance counsellors, Samaritan counsellors, alcohol
counsellors, drug counsellors… ” (1999). But this problem of labelling reflects the
uncertainty at the heart of the debate. If there was no uncertainty then there would be no
need for multiple labels. We do not see general practitioner doctors also under multiple
listing do we? (Such as „magician‟ or „quack‟ perhaps?).
Differences
Perhaps we should begin with looking at the historical differences between counselling and
psychotherapy. Psychotherapy has roots in Freudian psychodynamics, so that a medical
aspect to the training was involved in the past, which lends it an air of respectability. The
training period was also normally long, and involved working with real clients under
supervision. Also of a long period of self-analysis was required. Both in working with clients
and the analysis of the psychotherapist themselves focused mostly on in-depth
consideration of past issues. Petrushka Clarkson notes: “ The psychodynamic past to
psychotherapy still exerts an influence on the debate, and consequently on perceptions
ii
. ”
Therefore these characteristics from psychodynamics still affect the way psychotherapy is
viewed. Of course it can be said that nowadays courses of counselling also require a long
period of analysis on the part of the therapist in order to qualify and these too often involve
working with clients under supervision for a certain initial period. Never the less it is still
imagined of counselling as something that you can begin to do after a shorter period of
training and less in-depth self-analysis.
The training courses for counselling and psychotherapy often seem to reinforce this as
psychotherapy courses are normally at a postgraduate level, so that an individual needs to
have a degree already. And the level on counselling courses is often a little less academic
than on psychotherapy courses. This difference is sometimes reflected in counsellors
receiving less pay than the psychotherapists that they work along side in such places as
hospitals. According to the charity Counselling this all adds up to a situation where:
“ Counselling tends to be seen as the poorer relation to psychotherapy
iii
… ” .
In addition the academic and professional standing of counselling has recently increased,
as Rowan Bayne, Jenny Bimrose and Ian Horton note: “ There has been a massive
increase in the number of students on counsellor training courses, the numbers of courses
available, and interest in BAC Course Recognition, as well as the establishment of
undergraduate and postgraduate courses in counselling and psychotherapy, and the
establishment of Chartered status for Counselling Psychologists. ” (1996).
However Bayne et al go on to mention that not everyone thinks this move is a positive
development. They cite Illich et al. (1977) regarding more professional prestige for
counselling who thought: “ …that such a move fosters restrictive practice, stifles initiative
and is motivated by money, status seeking and bargaining power, which in turn are out of
line with the values of counselling… ” (In Bayne et al, 1996). In addition greater academic
requirements also mean greater cost to the person training, and therefore people from
poorer sections of society may have less chance to become a counsellor. One of the
advantages of the situation of having counselling courses as short, cheaper and more
accessible courses is that they are very inclusive. Working mothers, part time workers, the
unemployed etc can normally find some way to take some form of counselling course. But
the move towards „respectability‟ and professionalisation is likely to make such courses
longer, more expensive and harder to get into.
The degree of training which psychotherapists and counsellors receive is another area of
note. The UKCP system is that an individual must have completed postgraduate level
course in psychotherapy that lasted at least 4 years (part time). The BCP is even more
thorough. It requires one year of personal training (5 days a week at 50 minutes each
session). This is followed by three years of theoretical and clinical seminars (three times a
week), and this is done simultaneously with up to two years of supervised psychoanalysis of
two patients (again 50 minutes each, 5 times a week). Only on successful completion of this
process can the person apply for associate membership in the British Psychoanalytical
Society. Full membership is not granted until after completing the Institute‟s two-year post-
qualification course. In addition, this process is usually not even started until the applicant is
already well qualified in a related discipline.
Contrast this to certain courses in counselling where the training is shorter and less
intensive. The Diploma in Person Centred (Rogerian) Counselling & Psychotherapy at
Warwick University can be done after a one year introductory certificate. It is noted as
being: “ A higher qualification for those wishing to enter the counselling profession
iv
. ”
The diploma lasts for just 2 years in which the student is required to carry out only 15 hours
of personal therapy (the BCP requires more than 200 hours in just one year!). The diploma
also requires only 100 hours of supervised counselling practice (BCP is more than 500
hours). This course is at a reputable University, and may be a very good one. However,
many counselling courses are run by smaller, private organisations, and some of these
seem to put ease of qualification before quality of work. A certain college advertises a
course of only 3 to 6 months, of home study, and claims: “ This course qualifies you as a
counsellor allowing you to set up in practice
v
… ” .
This is a claim that on the face of it seems almost laughable when compared to the rigorous
process of qualification for the BCP psychoanalysts (this may explain why there are only
just over 400 of them compared to around 23,000 members of the BACP). So although the
attributes gained during training are universally seen as important, there is, according to
Cosca (2004): “ …no consensus about the most effective methods for fostering and
assessing these attributes. Consequently all training courses include elements that aim to
develop self-awareness but the amount and proportion of time devoted to this, as well as
the format, vary. ”
However, there are also plenty of „psychotherapy‟ courses that are available as short, rather
inadequate looking efforts, not just ones for counselling. The same college offers a
„Psychotherapy Diploma Course‟ that lasts for only 6 months home study. It claims: “ This
course would greatly help those enormously who wish to set up in private practice
vi
… ”
Therefore it can not be clearly held that psychotherapy training always differs from
counselling in terms of length and depth.
Even within the world of psychotherapy there are points of disagreement. Ann Casement,
the Chair of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) in 1997, indicated that
she saw little difference between that body and the other psychotherapy body in the UK, the
British Confederation of Psychotherapists (BCP)
vii
. However Joscelyn Richards, Chairman
of the BCP (1999) disagreed and insisted that there were considerable differences in terms
of the level of training and supervision acceptable in the two. In addition she noted that in
her opinion: … ” the UKCP saw psychotherapy as a linear extension of advice, guidance
and Counselling rather than involving a different order of complexity and intention as
understood by the BCP. ” Therefore there remains considerable disagreement within the
world of psychotherapy as to levels of training needed and the connection with counselling.
However, it should be said that perhaps sometimes short-term training might well be more
useful than it seems. Hypnotherapy is a case in point. The basic skill may be learned
quickly by someone sufficiently focused and suitable. Therefore long training may be
unnecessary. The London College of clinical hypnosis (LCCH) runs a Diploma in Clinical
Hypnotherapy that runs for a year of part time (but intensive) study. They claim that:
“ Properly taught, the ability to induce hypnosis is easy to acquire. However, it takes a long
time to learn how to use this skill effectively within a therapeutic framework
viii
. ” This
indicates that the element that takes time is the ability to use the skill well to help clients. So
perhaps the main aspect that such short courses fall down is not the skill, but the lack of a
long period of supervised therapy of clients.
One of the differences often cited is that psychotherapy involves working in greater depth
than counselling, that clients see their therapist more frequently and for a long period of
time. By contrast counselling takes place over a shorter period of time. Counselling cites the
opinion of trainer Petrushka Clarkson who thinks that counselling can be short term or long
term but: “ Psychotherapy… is about „deconstruction, and „reconstruction‟ of the clients self-
concept, a process likely to be lengthy and at a greater depth than counselling might
explore
ix
. ”
Again this image of length in psychotherapy is derived partly from the techniques of
psychodynamic therapy, so that the process can last months, even years, and take place
more than once a week. As with the training process the BCP indicates that the frequency
can be very high: “ Psychoanalysts work with patients intensively (fifty-minutes a day, five
days a week) and less intensively (fifty-minutes a day, one, two, three, or four days a
week)
x
. ”
In contrast someone may go to see a counsellor for just a few sessions, perhaps even just
once if the issue is successfully addressed. This is because counselling is often carried out
for more „situational‟ issues, such as the death of someone close, unexpected
unemployment, relationship problems etc. Where as Jo Ellen Grzyb (who advertises herself
as both a counsellor and psychotherapist) in an interview for the BBC noted:
“ Psychotherapy is a lot more like archaeology – I‟m looking at the causes and the roots for
what‟s known in the jargon as psychopathology – the behaviours that you keep repeating
over and over and over again that actually get in the way.
xi

Therefore counselling is seen to be about short-term help, and psychotherapy about longer
term. Connected to this is that the focus is on the past causes of the issues in the case of
psychotherapy, and the on the present issues in counselling. Also that psychotherapy is
concerned with some type of deeper personality change; but counselling is concerned with
helping individuals develop their full coping potential in regards to some particular issue.
However, this too is not as clear cut as it once may have been. Cosca indicates that some
argue: “ …that the intensity and depth of therapeutic work can be just as great in
counselling as in psychotherapy. ” (2004:4). In addition some psychotherapists may offer
brief therapy and some counsellors may work with the same client for years.
The setting of the treatment is also thought to be different between counselling and
psychotherapy. A counselling session often takes place in a number of non-medical settings
such as an office or small therapy centre, or even in the therapists flat. Where as
Psychotherapy is often thought of as taking place in a more medical setting, perhaps a clinic
or hospital. Again this is not so clear cut, as counselling increases in respectability it can
also be found in hospital settings, and psychotherapy can also take place in settings like the
therapist home.
Professor Paul S Morgan-Ayres makes the further point that, for him at least, counselling is
more suited to clients that are open to speaking. Psychotherapy is better for those who find
it difficult to open up, so that the therapists take more of an active role in guiding them. He
notes: “ As the client becomes more able and used to talking, the process may change in to
a more client centred approach
xii
. ” Counselling, according to Morgan-Ayers, is a process in
which the therapist is there as a „tour guide‟ for the client, refocusing them in a process that
they are otherwise quite good at exploring themselves. Therefore: “ The counsellor speaks
very little and gives the client plenty of space to offload and talk themselves into self-
knowledge
xiii
. ” . It could be said in contradiction to this that Freudian psychoanalysis often
places great emphasis on the therapist not interrupting the client. So therefore this
difference may not always be the case.
Similarities
Despite the assertions above there are many that maintain an opposite opinion. Donald
Arbuckle argues that: “ …counselling and psychotherapy are in all essential respects
identical ” (1967). One of the most obvious things that need to be considered regarding the
similarities between counselling and psychotherapy is that the kinds of issues that draw
people to use counselling and psychotherapy are often very similar. Also that the aims of
both are similar: both can be seen as an attempt to allow the person to build up resources
to live in more healthy, meaningful and satisfying ways, and to develop self awareness. Also
a high degree of respect for the autonomy of the client is a basic principle in both
counselling and Psychotherapy. With an understanding that the clients bring with them the
potential needed to successfully achieve their aims. (COSCA, 2004)
However, contrary points can be found for all of these. If, as stated, psychotherapy deals
more with deeper, long term problems and counselling with more situational and shorter
term issues, then clients do not go to these differing fields for exactly the same specific
reasons, only because of the same general motivation. Also it is perhaps only at the very
general levels that the aims of differing elements of counselling and psychotherapy are the
same. Taking it a step further we can see that different varieties have often quite different
aims. Gestalt therapy for instance: “ seeks to promote a person‟s awareness, support
creative choice and encourage responsibility in a person‟s effort to realise a meaningful and
fulfilling life
xiv
. ”
This appears to be a more wide ranging and deeper aim than that of counselling reported
here: “ Help the person focus on ways to manage their difficulties a little or a lot better
xv
. ”
This relates to the point considered before that counselling is more focused on situational
problems, and therefore its aims are likely to be more limited than psychotherapy.
Psychoanalysis in particular has sometimes been criticised for concentrating to much on the
process and not enough on the aims. Molnos (1998) notes concerning goals in
psychoanalysis:
“ At one extreme of this continuum there are those psychoanalysts and psychotherapists
who consider goals to be an arbitrary matter and see goallessness as technically essential
to analytic work. At the other end of this spectrum those practising forms of Brief Dynamic
Psycho-therapy tend to be concerned with setting specific and explicit therapeutic aims to
be attained at the end of the therapy
xvi
.
One other area of similarity is that both counselling and psychotherapy involve clear
contracts between the therapist and the client as to what the aims are and the roles
involved. These have been summarised by Professor Paul S Morgan-Ayres as:
1. “ An Assessment to ascertain whether the therapist can help you / have a good
chance of helping you.
2. That the therapist does not lead you to believe in some sort of magic cure and that
you realise that they are there to help you change yourself.
3. That you have explained to you what is proposed before the therapy commences so
that you are giving informed consent to the therapy.
4. That any person under 16 years has a parent‟s permission and signature.
5. That confidentiality is discussed and the therapist‟s position is made clear.
6. That the therapist is registered, insured and monitored
xvii
. ”
Another point of similarity mentioned by COSCA is that both counselling and psychotherapy
require the therapist to have highly developed skills. Their paper on the subject mentions:
“ Consequently, counsellors and psychotherapists undergo lengthy training, often lasting
several years. Their work is always supervised by another practitioner who helps them to
process and reflect on the issues of concern to their clients. ” (2004: 2). However it has
already been considered that different routes involve considerably different levels of
difficulty and length of training and supervision.
Counselling notes that: “ The BACP tend to see both disciplines as so similar that debate
about differences becomes rather redundant. It is undeniable that many similarities do exist
between the two
xviii
. ”
It does appear that the argument for similarity is winning the debate. A survey in 1993
indicated that over 50 per cent of the members of the then BAC used psychotherapeutic
models of counselling. Membership of the BAC and UKCP often overlaps, as does that
between the BAC and the British Psychological Society (BPS). Bayne et al note a growing
tendency: …these bodies might not fight but might confederate through a process of
rapprochement, in what appears to be an unstoppable momentum towards the
professionalisation of the disciplines ” (Bayne et al, 1996). This process can be seen
already. Jo Ellen Grzyb noted that when she began as a therapist her organisation was
called the „British Association‟ but that later the name was extended to the „British
Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy‟. Grzyb reflected: “ So magically suddenly
we‟re all psychotherapists
xix
. ”
Perhaps then, in conclusion, as the BACP they insist: “ It is not possible to make a generally
accepted distinction between counselling and psychotherapy
xx
. ” The BACP go on to say
that perhaps the differences can only really be found at the level of the individual therapists
daily practice, not at the wider level of definable principles. In practice a professional calling
themselves a psychotherapist my deal with deeper psychological problems in one setting,
such as a hospital; but may in their own private practice see clients with more „situational‟
issues. The work in that setting may be far more similar to that often seen as the domain of
counselling. The BACP also insist that although counsellors may work on very specific
everyday issues in setting like work or school, that in private practice they may offer:
“ …therapeutic work which in any other context would be called psychotherapy
xxi
” .
It appears that the trend, despite noticeable dissenters such as the BCP, is for recognising
the similarities between counselling and psychotherapy. This trend is reflected in the
increasing pressure towards joint bodies representing both fields of practice.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arbuckle, D. S. (1967). Counselling and Psychotherapy: An Overview. New York: McGraw
Hill.
Bayne,R., Bimrose, J. and Horton, I. (eds) (1996). New Directions in Counselling. New
York: Routledge.
British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy found at Internet URL:
http://www.bacp.co.uk/education/whatiscounselling.html Accessed: 10/3/2005
BBC, found at Internet URL:http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/yy_20040115.shtml
Accessed: 8/3/2005
British Confederation of Psychotherapists (1999), found at Internet URL:
http://www.psychoanalysis.org.uk/bcp.htm Accessed: 10/3/2005
Chriss,J. (1999) Counseling and the Therapeutic State. New York: Aldine De Gruyter
Counselling, found at Internet URL:
http://www.counselling.ltd.uk/counselling_psychotherapy/info.php?post=638 Accessed:
8/3/2005
COSCA (2004) Counselling and Psychotherapy: COSCA’s Description Stirling: Cosca
Gestalt Australia and New Zealand, Inc., found at Internet URL:
http://www.ganz.org.au/pages/whatis.html Accessed: 23/2/2005
Feltham, C. (Editor) (1999) Controversies in Psychotherapy and Counselling. Sage, London
London College of Cliniccal Hypnosis, found at Internet URL:
http://www.lcch.co.uk/prospectus.htm Accessed: 9/3/2005
Molnos, A (1998) found at Internet URL:
http://fox.klte.hu/~keresofi/psyth/guide/aims_of_analytic_psychotherapies.html Accessed:
10/3/2005
Morgan-Ayres P. Prof., found at Internet URL: http://www.hypno-
analysis.co.uk/psychotherapy-analysis-counselling.htm) Accessed: 9/10/2005
Open College, found at Internet URL: http://www.opencollege.info/ Accessed: 10/3/2005
Warwick University, found at Internet URL:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/study/cll/Counselling/diploma/ Accessed: 8/3/2005
Webber,C., found at Internet URL:
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/depression/psychotherapy_000429.htm Accessed:
9/3/2005
Young business net, found at Internet URL:
http://www.youngbusiness.net/partners/solib/coaim.htm Accessed: 9/3/2005

i
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/depression/psychotherapy_000429.htm
ii
http://www.counselling.ltd.uk/counselling_psychotherapy/info.php?post=638
iii
http://www.counselling.ltd.uk/counselling_psychotherapy/info.php?post=638
iv
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/study/cll/Counselling/diploma/
v
http://www.opencollege.info/
vi
http://www.opencollege.info/psychotherapycourse.html
vii
http://www.psychoanalysis.org.uk/bcp.htm
viii
http://www.lcch.co.uk/prospectus.htm
ix
http://www.counselling.ltd.uk/counselling_psychotherapy/info.php?post=638
x
http://www.psychoanalysis.org.uk/frontpage.htm
xi
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/yy_20040115.shtml
xii
http://www.hypno-analysis.co.uk/psychotherapy-analysis-counselling.htm
xiii
http://www.hypno-analysis.co.uk/psychotherapy-analysis-counselling.htm
xiv
http://www.ganz.org.au/pages/whatis.html
xv
http://www.youngbusiness.net/partners/solib/coaim.htm
xvi
http://fox.klte.hu/~keresofi/psyth/guide/aims_of_analytic_psychotherapies.html
xvii
http://www.hypno-analysis.co.uk/psychotherapy-analysis-counselling.htm
xviii
http://www.counselling.ltd.uk/counselling_psychotherapy/info.php?post=638
xix
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/yy_20040115.shtml
xx
http://www.bacp.co.uk/education/whatiscounselling.html
xxi
http://www.bacp.co.uk/education/whatiscounselling.html





Guidance is basically advice, hopefully from someone you consider to be wise.

Counseling is advice from someone with an agenda; i.e. a Human Resources Manager whose agenda is
to maximize profit in a company by getting you to work at your best, or a Career Counselor whose
agenda is to point you toward a job that you are capable of either doing or learning well, or a Minister
whose agenda is to lead you toward ethical behavior within a religious context.

Psychotherapy is medical advice from a trained professional whose aim is your improved mental health.
Source:
Life experience.
Asker's rating & comment

Thanks for your answer.
 Rate
 Comments (0)

Other Answers (2)
Rated Highest

arjunan answered 7 months ago
Psychotherapy is a method used in treating maladaptive behaviour by using psychological, verbal and
expressive techniques. It involves exploring feelings, beliefs, thoughts and relevant events, sometimes
from childhood and personal history, in a structured way. Psychotherapy aims to help clients gain insight
into their difficulties or distress, establish a greater understanding of their motivation, and enable them to
find more appropriate ways of coping or bring about changes in their thinking and behaviour. Counselling
is a relationship between two individuals in which the more experienced person helps the less
experienced person to learn to reach his self-determined goals through meaningful, well-informed choices
and through resolution of problems of an emotional or interpersonal nature. Psychotherapy and
Counselling are professional activities that utilize an interpersonal relationship to enable people to
develop self understanding and to make changes in their lives. Psychotherapy and counseling are terms
that are often used interchangeably. Although they are very similar, there are some subtle differences as
well. The major difference between counselling and psychotherapy are given in the reference

Reference: Arjunan, N.K. (2013). Guidance and Counselling for Teachers. Palakkad: Yuga Publications
o Rate
o Comments (0)
o

Katelynn answered 7 years ago
Guidance is advice from someone you trust, such as a friend or family member.

Counseling is a proffesional you go to because you are stressed out and they help you cope with
anything that could be upsetting you in your life.

Psycotherapy is when you talk to a psychologist/psychiatrist about your mental health condition, and they
help you deal with it, and possibly medicate you.




Sponsor Documents

Or use your account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Forgot your password?

Or register your new account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link to create a new password.

Back to log-in

Close