What is the difference between counseling and therapy? 7.13.16_Types of Therapy Counseling (1) What are the types of counseling, therapy? It is confusing for me to know the difference between the types of counseling, therapy and then add in psychotherapy, it is enough to make my head hurt. I hope to clarify the difference. In researching about this I found that first you need to understand the type of mental health professionals you are seeing, then that will help you understand the difference between the types of counseling therapy.

Richer Life Counseling Las Vegas Marriage and Family Therapy Presents

Types of Counseling Therapy: Professionals

Psychiatrist

Are medical doctors that are trained in mental health problems, along with other medical conditions. These doctors are the ones who prescribe medication. Other mental health professionals and doctors will refer to these doctors for medication for anxiety, depression, ADHD, or other mental health issues someone might have.

Psychologist

They do counseling and therapy and performs psychological testing. A psychologist also can work for business and have a wide range of different career paths. Those who work within the mental health community, they sometimes do a lot of court order work, provide government assessments, deal with more severe mental health issues such as schizophrenia.

Social Workers

They can also have a therapy practice their school is focused on training and evaluating treatment. They regularly provide case management and hospital discharge, along with advocating for clients.

Clinical Professional Counselors (CPC) Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT)

7.13.16_Therapist sit with you

Your state laws indicate what a CPC or MFT is allowed to treat, for all intensive purposes the degrees are about the same. CPC focus more on individuals, while MFT focuses more on families. No matter which one you see, they both have training and schooling in doing what is traditional though of as therapy. They sit with you in a room and talk about your issues, and help you make changes I within your life.

Drug Counselors

While depending on your state, drug counselor can only treat drug addictions and have specific training in drug counseling.

One important aspect to remember with all these different titles and types of degrees is that each state has different requirements for what each professional can do. I practice in Nevada as a Marriage and Family Therapist, and the state of Nevada says that I am not able to work with people who are experiencing psychos’ such as schizophrenia. Nevada also does not let those who have a CPC license to treat families, or couples without special approval. While in other states there is no license for marriage and family therapist and CPC treat all families, couples, and individuals. Make sure you check out your own state’s requirements through your state’s therapist board. For anyone in Nevada, you can see our States board here.

Types of Counseling Therapy: Sessions

The term psychotherapy and therapy are interchangeable, and you can learn more about psychotherapy by reading this article by the American Psychological Association.

For most professionals they drop the psycho from the therapy because it sounds to Academic and implies a negative stigma.(you can read more about stigma here at 10 common myths about counseling)

Therapy is the process of working with professional to identify patterns within your life, and working to develop insight and make changes to emotional problems and difficulties. Therapy is about understanding how your feelings, thoughts, and behavior all work together, in influencing your life.
Counseling is considered by some more of a brief treatment focusing on patterns of behavior. This means that counseling is about fixes and does not draw on deeper meaning and insight into feelings. Lots of people can do counseling and offers Solutions to problems within your life. Therapist doing therapy can do counseling, but counselors do not do therapy.

Types of Counseling Therapy:Does it matter?

7.13.16_Counsleing THerapy Is it important what term someone uses? No, I use the terms counseling and therapy interchangeably because for me its all about helping people find mental serenity. There is no big difference between counseling and therapy. They both provide insight into new skills to live a balanced life and overcome emotional obstacles, help maintain self-esteem, improve real intimacy, help overall Quality of life. The most important thing is not what the therapist calls the session, but you connect to your therapist. (Read her for qualities to look for in a therapist). Do you think you need counseling, Click Here to Download our free quiz on is counseling right for you.

Have you ever seen any of the professionals listed above? Did you see a difference? Does it matter what we call this process? Let me know in your comments below.