How It Helps

Counselling and psychotherapy — what’s the difference?

The two terms are often used to mean the same thing, and they’re closely related. But there are some gentle differences worth understanding.

Counselling

Usually a relatively brief, focused piece of work, centred on a particular symptom or situation. It gives you space to explore your issues, thoughts and feelings, and to feel deeply understood — so you can resolve what’s holding you back and build a more settled, secure footing.

Psychotherapy

Generally longer-term work that looks more deeply at the patterns beneath the surface. Through the relationship with your therapist, you explore feelings, thoughts, memories and dreams — gaining insight into the unconscious processes that shape how you live, relate and respond.

As human beings, at one point or another we all feel overwhelmed by life — left feeling helpless, hopeless or alone. It can feel as though there’s no way through. But with the right support and guidance, you can recover and take back a sense of control over your life.

Counselling creates the conditions in which people can develop — emotionally, socially and psychologically — and become more secure and content. The aim of psychotherapy is a greater degree of self-understanding, which helps you find better ways of solving problems and coping with difficulty.

Counselling can help with

  • General anxiety
  • Depression
  • Feeling undesirable to others
  • Difficulty forming and sustaining fulfilling relationships
  • Life events such as the loss of a loved one
  • Low self-esteem
  • Anger, regret and guilt

Psychotherapy can help with

  • Anxiety, an inability to cope, and difficulty concentrating
  • Depression, sadness and emptiness
  • Feelings of failure and underachievement, and low confidence
  • Destructive relationships and difficulty sustaining them
  • Bereavement, loss and divorce
  • Chronic physical symptoms
  • Behavioural and eating difficulties

Not sure which is right for you?

That’s exactly what a free consultation is for. We’ll talk it through together, with no pressure.

Book your free consultation