What is the difference between counseling and clinical psychology?
- Lyn Georgy
- Jan 31, 2015
- 3 min read
This was the second question the students of the college asked me-
First of all they are 2 different careers entirely. In our country (India) people often assume they are the same, but they not.
Secondly just because one studies psychology doesn’t mean he/she is a counselor or a clinical psychologist. This is the second misconception about the field.
According to APA (American Psychology Association) there are 54 divisions under Psychology. Yep. 54. And it is still growing. And only 7 of them are practice/ service oriented fields. check out this previous article on the same-clinical psychology
Counseling psychology and clinical psychology are 2 of the 7 fields.
Simply put the difference is like the difference between a neurologist and a neurosurgeon.
A neurologist is a medical doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system. Neurologists can recommend surgical treatment, but do not perform surgery. When treatment includes surgery, neurologists will monitor surgically treated patients and supervise their continuing treatment.
A neurosurgeon also specializes in the brain; however they deal with the diagnosis and treatment of patients with injury to or diseases of, the brain, spine or peripheral nerves. They are medical doctors who specialize in performing surgical treatments of the brain or nervous system.
Similarly,
A counselor or a counseling psychologist offers counsel/advise. He makes use of scientifically proven techniques to tackle everyday (psychological) problems like for example stress, work related issues, family issues, making career choices, or any other life decisions etc. These may sound simple; however people waste precious time worrying over these simple things, when all it takes is a few sessions with a counselor. Also very often it’s these simple this that aggravate into full fledged disorders/ mental illness.
This is where a clinical psychologist comes in. He/she is trained to test, diagnose and treat using psychotherapy (different types of therapy and techniques) problems ranging from these simple ones to the more severe disorders.
The difference, however, is that whilst also attending to a person’s immediate symptoms, psychotherapy will have more focus on the underlying aspects of somebody’s character structure that might contribute to the problem. I remember reading this somewhere- “Keeping it simple, counselling tends to look at the problem ‘outside of me’ and psychotherapy tends to deal with the problem ‘inside of me’.”
I already mentioned the work settings in the previous question. for details click on scope for psychology
To be a clinical psychologist in India you need to invest at least 7-8 years (or above) for education (bachelors (3 years), masters (2 years), M.Phil in clinical psychology (2 years), PhD on a need to basis if you want to teach) whereas for counseling psychologists it is 5 years and above. (I.e. Till masters and the option for M.Phil and PhD is always open)
If you ask whether being a neurologist is better than being a neurosurgeon the right answer is neither is better or worse. Both jobs deserve equal respect and hard work, so finally it’s up to your personal choice. It is the same with counseling psychologists and clinical psychologists. Ask your which population would you love to work with for the rest of your life? What kind of a work place would you prefer? Are you ready to put in hard work, and time for learning these skills from a recognized course/institute? Where do you personally see yourself in 5 years, or in the next ten years? These questions might help you reach a conclusion.
Similarly if you are a client, seeking to understand the difference between the 2, ask the following questions- Do you have lifestyle problems – like stress, difficult life decisions to take, relationship issues, etc problems that everyone has, then your best bet is a counselling psychologist.
If you feel, you have a psychological condition like depression, anxiety, OCD etc and you wish to rule them out, a clinical psychologist can help by conducting a few tests (paper pencil tests and interviews, assessments (a series of tests).)
If you feel you need help with these conditions, the clinical psychologists can collaborate with you and come up with a individualized therapy plan – i.e. the therapy plan best suited for you. ( not all therapies/ techniques work for everyone equally)
Stop waiting for the right time. Most often, “Right Now” is the right time.
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