What Is the Difference Between Counselling, Psychotherapy and Therapy?
The terms counselling, psychotherapy and therapy are nowadays often used interchangeably and all refer to talking with a trained professional about your difficulties. Although, these forms of talking therapy are all aimed at improving mental health, they generally differ in depth, duration, and focus.
Counselling is more likely to help with a specific difficulty, current problem or surface issue. Examples might include being made redundant, a bereavement, relationship breakup or a current difficulty that is not necessarily rooted in the past. Counselling is often short-term and solution focused, with sessions ranging from a few weeks to a few months.
Psychotherapy is likely to help with more deep-rooted difficulties that affects a person’s life. Psychotherapy is more in depth and facilitates long term changes, a reconstruction of personality or psyche areas. Examples might include child abuse, complex PTSD or trauma. These sessions are likely to be open ended and last for a number of months, and for complex cases where there is relational trauma (attachment or developmental), may even take years as a result of psychological harm occurring within close relationships, where parents/caregivers have become sources of fear, abandonment, or profound instability. Unlike single-event trauma, this chronic, repetitive, or long-term betrayal disrupts a person's self-image, trust, and capacity for future emotional connection.
How to Know When It’s Time to Get Help
In today’s fast-paced, social media driven, instant gratification and often overwhelming world, mental health conditions have become increasingly common within our societies. The complexities of modern life, coupled with personal struggles, can create a perfect storm of stress, anxiety, and emotional distress. While it’s normal to experience ups and downs, there are times when the weight of our experiences becomes too heavy and overwhelming to bear alone. Recognising when professional help will be beneficial is a crucial step towards maintaining good mental health and quality of life. This is not a sign of weakness, it is a sign of strength, courage and an act of healthy self-love.
Here are some common signs to indicate when therapy could prove useful:
You are experiencing persistent feelings of overwhelm, helplessness, powerlessness, sadness, worthlessness, shame, irritability or anger.
Your mind is constantly racing and overanalysing everything, you can’t switch your mind off and this is affecting your ability to concentrate and sleep.
You are either in a constant heighted (hyperarousal) anxious state and struggling to relax, or a chronic (hypoarousal) shut down state and unable to motivate yourself to do anything.
You are engaging in unhealthy coping strategies i.e. drinking, gambling, drugs, excessive use of prescription medications, avoidance, dissociating, numbing, isolating, procrastination, self-harming, taking on too many tasks to stay constantly busy, people pleasing, smoking, sleeping too much, being overly critical towards yourself, engaging in risky behaviours, emotional eating or restrictive eating patterns.
You have recurring unexplained physical symptoms that you don’t seem to recover from. Common psychosomatic symptoms include: chronic headaches or migraines, gastrointestinal issues like stomach aches or nausea, unexplained aches and pains, fatigue or low energy, skin problems or rashes.
You are experiencing a loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities. When hobbies, social interactions, or daily routines that once brought joy now feel like chores, it’s a clear sign that something is amiss.
You are experiencing symptoms associated with trauma such i.e. flashbacks or intrusive thoughts of the traumatic event, hyper-vigilance, avoidance behaviours, nightmares, dissociation & emotional numbness.
At MJB Counselling therapeutic intervention is tailored to the client’s specific individual needs. Therefore, the length and focus of work will vary according to individual needs and circumstances. However, in each case the aim is to help you to explore who you are and why you are experiencing the challenges in your life. Whether they arise from recent circumstances, health issues, childhood adverse events or long-standing negative attitudes and beliefs.
How will I know if MJB Counselling is right for me?
I acknowledge that my personality and style of working will not be suited to every client. Therefore, I offer a no obligation initial 15 mins telephone chat to start with, so clients can have the opportunity to talk to me and ask any questions. This will also allow me to gain an understanding of your current situation, what changes you believe you need to make to improve your quality of life, and to explain the different techniques I offer. By the end of this initial contact, it’ll give us both the opportunity to assess if we are a good fit for one another.
Disclaimer
I do not provide medical advice or diagnosis. All therapies provided are not intended to diagnose or treat any particular individual or condition. If you have a professionally diagnosed mental or physical condition, please consult with your registered medical practitioner first. By seeking therapy with MJB Counselling you are agreeing to this Disclaimer.
