Did you know that around one in five Americans lives with a mental illness? That's twenty per cent of the population, a significant amount. Whether it's mild anxiety, major depression, or severe psychotic disorders, mental illness can take its toll on people. While some people can manage with medication, others need to spend time in institutions or take lifelong medication regimes in order to function. It's not all doom and gloom, though, with many people living with mental illnesses able to live whole, productive, and engaging lives.
And a large part of treating mental illness is by engaging in therapy with a qualified mental health professional, such as a counselor or psychologist. But what exactly is the difference between counseling, psychology, and therapy? If you're new to these terms, you might not understand what they mean. Lucky for you, this informative article will demystify these professions, and you'll learn the key differences. Read on to learn more.
What is Psychology?
Psychology is a mental health career like those that have studied a PMHNP program online, but with a few key differences. As that is a psychiatric nursing program, psychologists study either undergraduate or postgraduate psychology degrees.
A psychologist is a registered and accredited mental health specialist trained in human cognition and behaviour. Some psychologists choose to complete further studies to become endorsed in various specialized areas of psychology, such as clinical psychology, health, neuropsychology, community, organizational forensics, and sports and exercise psychology. All of these specializations enable a psychologist to work in different areas. For instance, a neuropsychologist is an expert in how brain injuries and defects impact mood, thinking, and overall quality of life. An organizational psychologist is a specialist in how organizations, such as large companies, operate and may work in HR or other related departments.
Psychologists work in a variety of places, such as schools, hospitals, community health centres, courts, non-profits, businesses, prisons, and private practices.
Some psychologists may specialize in helping kids, teenagers, or families. Some even work with traumatized or abused infants. Psychologists will use a variety of talk-based therapies to support the people they work with, similar to a counselor. However, a psychologist typically has more strenuous training and is paid at a higher rate than a counselor. This is a crucial difference between the two professions. Both engage in therapy, which we'll explain more about later, but a psychologist tends to study for longer and has more advanced qualifications. They also tend to get paid more due to this.
What is Counseling?
A counselor is another type of trained and qualified mental health worker that has completed a degree in counseling, either at an undergraduate or postgraduate level. They are competent, qualified, and effective therapists who can develop a trusting and therapeutic relationship with the people they work with. They are specially trained to offer different assistance depending on people's needs - usually through talking therapies, which we'll explain more about below.
Engaging in counseling with a counselor is the process of talking about your issues and working through them together. The counselor's role is to help clients clarify their issues, explore options to address them, develop strategies to manage them, and increase their self-awareness and capacity to manage their mental health and well-being.
For some people, just talking to someone who is understanding and compassionate goes a long way to making them feel better. A counselor can offer this, as a sympathetic ear.
Some issues people might explore with a counselor include weight management, quitting smoking, alcohol and drugs, relationships, marriage, family issues, and anxiety or mood management.
What is Therapy?
Both a psychologist and a counselor can offer therapy. Therapy is the process of talking about your problems and having the mental health professional use their qualifications, training, and experience to help you navigate those issues. Both psychologists and counsellors will use a variety of different therapies, depending on the issue you're presenting with.
Some examples of therapy include:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Dialectical Behavioural Therapy
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Motivational interviewing
- Brief interventions
- Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
- Psychotherapy
Let's explore one of the most common therapies both professionals will use: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). This therapy is used to treat mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and other common problems. It can also be used to treat compulsive behaviour such as overspending, substance abuse, and overeating.
This effective therapy method is based on several core foundations, including:
- Psychological problems are based, in part, on faulty, unhelpful, or distorted types of thinking.
- Mental health issues and associated behaviours are based, partially, on learned patterns.
- People suffering from these problems can learn better ways of coping, thereby relieving various symptoms and becoming more effective, productive, and happier in their lives.
CBT treatment typically involves efforts to change distorted or problematic thinking patterns. Some strategies a counselor or therapist will utilize with a client while using CBT might include:
- Learning to recognize your distorted thinking that is creating problems and then reassess the issues based on reality.
- Gaining an improved understanding of the behavior and motivation of other people and how you interact with them.
- Using problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations, problematic behavior, and your thinking.
- Learning to develop better confidence, well-being, and peace of mind.
CBT has a solid evidence base and is proven to work effectively when delivered by a competent, qualified, and trained mental health professional.
A Therapy Summary
This informative article has explained the key differences between counseling, therapy, and psychology. As you can see, both professions will utilize therapy with you, but the key difference is in the training, qualifications, and payscale between the roles.
