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What is the difference between clinical psychology and professional counselling?

Updated: 13 minutes ago

Clinical mental health, including psychology, focuses on diagnosing and treating emotional, behavioural and mental conditions which are seen as disorders (psychopathology) 


Professional counselling supports people with a wide range of presenting issues and works with clients on strategies to overcome obstacles, personal challenges and adversity.




It is a safe, confidential and collaborative professional relationship that focuses on empowering and enabling individuals to accomplish mental health and wellbeing.


Empower: helping people to discover or rediscover their own resources and strengths

Enable: helping people restore confidence in their own autonomy, self-directedness (choosing own goals and meanings) and personal power


Counselling is a strengths-based approach. This means that it does not centre on disorders and deficits, but instead emphasises positive aspects of clients’ functioning, their strengths and potential while understanding and respecting the reality of any psychological diagnosis.


As such, it encourages clients to play an active role in their recovery while the counsellor acts as a trusted guide. The biggest benefit of counselling is that it provides a safe space to discuss what is going on in your life without fear of judgement.


These can include a range of topics such as:  


  • Self-awareness and acceptance

  • Stress Management

  • Parenting ( discipline vs punishment, understanding the psychological & emotional development of children)

  • Goals and aspirations

  • Healthy Relationships

  • Protective Behaviours

  • Grief and loss

  • Anxiety, and depression

  • Anger

  • Managing unhelpful emotions and behaviours

  • Relationship issues

  • Conflict Resolution

  • Life transitions

  • Work and career issues

  • Addiction

  • Coping with traumatic experiences

  • Abuse & Abuse Trauma

  • Assertiveness Training

  • Self-esteem difficulties

  • Self-efficacy 

  • Exploring gender identity and / or sexuality 



Approaches:

Our integrated person-centred approach combines.:

Solution-focused counselling: is a strength-based approach that actively works toward solutions (the focus is on building solutions rather than solving problems). It helps clients identify what they do well (existing skills, coping abilities, positive attributes, and behaviours) and how these can be used or built on to overcome challenges and adversity.


It invites clients to explore and generate a preferred future and set goals to work towards the vision of their favoured future.


Motivational Interviewing: is a goal-oriented, person-centred counselling approach that focuses on strengthening clients’ own motivation for and commitment to change.

It does this by helping clients explore and solve ambivalence, i.e. indecision, anxiety and confusion about the wished for change

It does not force change but supports it in a way that supports the person’s own values and assists the client to become more self-reliant and responsible for the change


Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT): the core concept of this approach is that sometimes our beliefs, way of thinking and learned behaviours are unhelpful and create problems and barriers to our wellbeing. It supports clients to better understand and reevaluate their thinking and behaviours and subsequently develop coping strategies and a greater sense of confidence in their own abilities


Psychoeducation: is flexible strengths-based approach that incorporates both educational and therapeutic techniques. The basic aim is to provide clients (and/or their family) with knowledge meant to empower them. This can range from psychoeducation about  diagnosis (example: anxiety including symptoms, causes, triggers and effective coping strategies) to building parenting confidence through enhancing understanding of child development and providing practical approaches to deal with parenting challenges




Everyone talks about person-centred therapy. But what is it?

This approach to counselling views people as forward-moving and naturally driven to realize their talents and potential (self-actualisation). However adverse circumstances can and do get in the way. This type of counselling will support clients to gradually rediscover and nurture their self-actualising tendency to achieve a meaningful life and emotional wellbeing.



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