What's the difference between a psychotherapist and a counsellor?
In practice, very little: some practitioners may choose to call themselves counsellors, while others - even with identical qualifications - may call themselves psychotherapists.
Traditionally, people offering short-term help to patients or clients - especially those in the voluntary sector - tended to call themselves counsellors, while people who had trained on a psychotherapy course, lasting at least two years, would call themselves psychotherapists. But nowadays this distinction seems to have blurred.
Quite apart from anything else, many psychotherapists also call themselves counsellors.
One reason for this is that they think the public find 'counselling' a more understandable and less frightening term than 'psychotherapy'.
Another reason is that when practitioners pay to put themselves into a telephone directory, they are aware that many potential clients will start by looking up 'counsellors' because it comes before 'psychotherapists' alphabetically. So they put their advert into the counselling section.
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. Confusing, isn't it?
Are there any other practitioners who offer psychotherapy/counselling?
Psychiatrists
Psychiatrists are people who have qualified as medical doctors, who have then gone on to specialise in mental health. Not all psychiatrists offer psychotherapy or counselling. Many of them are much more concerned with medication and other 'non-talking' methods. But in the private sector it is usually possible to find a psychiatrist for therapy - some people prefer to see someone who is medically qualified.
Psychologists
A psychologist is not a medical doctor. Instead, he or she has a degree in psychology. But there are all sorts of psychologists. Many of them are academics who never come into contact with real patients. In fact, the whole idea of psychologists treating patients is a relatively modern one and did not start happening properly in the UK until the 1950s.
A psychologist who has trained in the assessment of mental health problems and the treatment of patients is usually called a clinical psychologist. Some individuals with similar training are called chartered psychologists and some psychologists call themselves chartered clinical psychologists.
Any of these terms should give you confidence that the practitioner in question is fully qualified and competent.
For more details of how to find a psychologist, see the third part of our series on therapy: 'How to choose a private therapist'.
The essential difference between psychiatrists and psychologists is that the former group are specialists who qualified as medical doctors first. This means that a psychiatrist can prescribe medication should you need it, whereas a psychologist cannot.
Qualifications
Clearly a psychiatrist will have a string of medical qualifications attached to his name. And a psychologist will have a degree and probably other professional qualifications, too.
But when it comes to counsellors and psychotherapists the picture is less clear. In the UK there is currently no legal requirement for a therapist to have passed any exams, to have trained properly or to belong to a professional organisation.
This means that there are some dubious practitioners about. So, I advise you to seek out a therapist who is able to prove to you that he or she has had training, is qualified to see patients/clients, and is a paid-up member of one of the professional organisations are listed in the article on 'How to choose a private therapist'.
Even if you choose to go to a psychiatrist or psychologist, my advice still is to go through one of the professional organisations.
Coaching
In the past five years, there has been a huge growth in the UK in the numbers of people opting for coaching.
Some of these individuals might do better to have psychotherapy. However, in many cases there is quite a narrow dividing line between what coaching can do for someone and what psychotherapy might achieve. And increasingly, highly qualified and accredited psychotherapists are now also certified coaches and are able to offer either specialty.
Coaching is a process that is much more acceptable to some British adults than psychotherapy might be. And it would be true to say that some people who would avoid therapy at all costs are quite happy to see a coach.
Coaching cannot begin to address long-term, complex psychological problems. But it is very useful for addressing issues such as stress, chaotic lifestyles, work issues and procrastination.
Different types of therapy
Once you have decided which type of practitioner you want to see, you still have to decide what sort of therapy would best suit you. There are many different kinds:
Behaviour therapy
Coaching
Cognitive analytic therapy
Cognitive therapy
Gestalt therapy
Person-centred therapy
Psychodynamic therapy
Rational emotive behaviour therapy