Similarities and differences between counseling psychology and psychotherapy

Abstract

Defining counseling and psychotherapy conceptually and empirically is still open to debate in scientific literature. Thus, this theoretical study aims to comprehend the similarities and differences amongst these fields of study. The differences are related to: (a) counseling requires shorter time of intervention. (b) Psychotherapy tends to have more complex cases with higher intensity and more depth; (c) Counseling faces more specific and circumstantial situations; (d) in counseling, interventions focus on actions rather than on reflections and are based on prevention rather than on treatment; (e) counseling is more focused on solving problems. Similarities refer to the core of the helping process, to the psychologist’s attitudes and to the need of developing therapeutic resources in order to establish an effective relationship, reaching established goals. Furthermore, the need of developing more research concerning psychological counseling in Brazil is highlighted considering its scarcity compared to the scientific production in Psychotherapies.

Keywords: counseling psychology, psychotherapy, Clinical Psychology.