Counselling or Psychotherapy?

These terms are often used interchangeably.

They do have lots of similarities, and it can be hard to know which is most appropriate for you.

Both are ways of looking at our life and thinking about why we relate to events and people and feel in particular ways. It’s often the case that the ways that we relate are painful and make us unhappy.

To change, however, is difficult and can be frightening. We often need support. Both counselling and psychotherapy provide this space to think about how to make change possible.

Counselling tends to involve a focus on specific issues and crises and is shorter term work, around 12-24 sessions. Often, when people have had counselling, they see its benefits and move on to have psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy is longer-term, focusing on issues that are often harder to access and understand without help. Psychotherapy involves a desire to make more fundamental changes.