Arpita Nayak
What is counselling?
Counselling has been defined in various forms throughout history, depending on what it tried to emphasise on and what the zeitgeist of the time demands. Nevertheless, if we were to agree upon a single definition it would be this: Counselling is the process by which an individual is able to navigate their life better and in more efficient ways through the help of a professional counsellor.
Counselling emerged in the twentieth-century western industrial society to help and protect the people suffering in the face of large bureaucratic systems. Its popularity in recent years is a reflection of the strain and fragmentation in contemporary society.
What is not counselling?
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It is not judgemental
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It does not sort of the client’s problems
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It is not encouraging the client to act in a way that the counsellor would have acted in if they were confronted with a similar problem.
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It is not getting emotionally involved with a client
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It is not a magic service that solves all your life problems.
How is counselling different from psychotherapy?
Although these terms are often used interchangeably, counselling and psychotherapy are two different things. Yes, they’re both helping professions, and they both use some similar techniques to help an individual overcome his or her problems but there are still some things that differentiate the two.
Counselling is usually more short-term than therapy and more problem-specific. It focuses on solving a particular problem of the individual. It helps a person deal with a certain situation or emotion and helps them to cope up with life in a better way.
While on the other hand, psychotherapy focuses on a broader range of issues. There are a number of types of psychotherapies and theories from which professionals decide to help a particular client.
Aims of Counselling
- Psychological education: The client is able to understand the thought and behaviour patterns in their life and find better ways to improve them.
- Problem-solving: The person is able to understand a specific problem and look at it from various angles, along with finding appropriate solutions.
- Self-acceptance: Developing a more positive attitude towards self and accepting both the shortcomings and the strengths of the self.
- Empowerment: Working on the client’s skills, awareness, and knowledge to better equip them to take life on life’s terms.
References
Guide to psychiatry and counseling. (n.d.). WebMD. Retrieved November 6, 2020, from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/guide-to-psychiatry-and-counseling#1
Palmer, S. (Ed.) (2000). Introduction to counselling and psychotherapy: The essential guide London: SAGE Publications Ltd doi: 10.4135/9781446279755
McLeod, J. M. (2007). An introduction to counselling. In AN INTRODUCTION TO COUNSELLING (Third Edition, pp. 4–17). Open University Press.
Miller, K. M. (2020, October 14). How Do Coaching, Mentoring, and Counseling Differ? Positive Psychology. https://positivepsychology.com/coaching-mentoring-counseling/
Beautifully presented, this may even motivate people to go for counselling incase who are worried or scared otherwise.
Very informative article. Amazing work everything In brief.
Great article! A lot of similar misconceptions about counselling being the same as giving advice continue to exist and it is important to spread awareness to help people feel comfortable instead of getting worried about going for counselling sessions.
Another important point for what a counsellor does is that they not only provide a non-judgemental environment, but also respect confidentiality of the client. This ensures that availing counselling services can give the person a safe space to express, introspect and heal without worrying about consequences or feeling conscious.
Thank you so much first of all! It was a really good article! It helped me a lot! I learnt a lot of things thanks to you… Looking forward to other contents from you…
This is really good but it could be a bit more comprehensive in the details as there are many types for different purposes and many people are not aware of which one is suitable for their problems.
Hey Arpita, your article was really good for the people who want to pursue further into the field of psychology or counseling. It would have been even much better if there was more information and was more elaborate. It would be great to have included some unrealistic expectations that people have from counseling and how they can be tackled otherwise it was a nice article. Would love to read more
Hey, i like how you pointed out what is not and what is counseling. Many people fail to understand this part. Since the topic is about counseling, it would also be useful if you could explain the different types of counseling available and their purposes.
Hello,
This article is very informative about counselling. People really need to see this before forming any biased opinion towards counselling. It is very helpful. Thank you very much
The starting of the article is very interesting and strikes the right points.
I love how the writer expressed her views and at the same time keeps the discussion an open end.
The articulation and simplicity of the language is really commendable.
I love how unbiased the opinions of the writer are and how she /he believes in equality.
I like the idea of putting facts to support her / his views is worth appreciating.
It is clear that she has invested a lot of time but also emotionally and psychologically invested her/himself in the article.
Though stating so many facts was a good approach but the length of the article could have been more and content more informative.
I love that the articulation is very simple and easy to understand.
Hi there! Thanks a lot for this article! Really helped me distinguish between counselling and psychotherapy perfectly! Keep up the amazing work! Cheers!
well written article. loved reading it and this helped me a lot to get information. I loved the way you simplified it by answering them by forming questions.
Hello! I truly appreciate ur article. Thanks for sharing this to us!!!!
I’m so interested in counseling, so thank you for this!
Properly differentiated. It would give a proper view for confused people.
Wonderfull
A very interesting read! Well done :))
Looking forward to more of your work!!
You have explained the basic concepts well
Well conceptualized and well iterated. Well done
really informative
this is such a wonderful article!! thanks for writing 🙂
Great article!
Great work ,found helpful
Amazing work and helpful