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What Are counselling And Psychotherapy?

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Counselling and Psychotherapy have a long history of helping patients deal with life's issues. The basic premise behind both counselling and psychotherapy is that the human mind and body respond to various stimulus in unique ways. Most psychologists and counsellors are skilled at identifying these stimuli and tailoring an intervention to best effect on a patient. For example, counselling can be used to improve an individuals coping skills so that they are better able to handle stress and other common life situations. Alternatively, psychotherapy can be used as a way to address persistent feelings of guilt or shame, or even as a means of self-help. Visit https://carolinemcdougall.net for more info.


The first major difference between counselling and psychotherapy is that counselling generally addresses the immediate and current mental state of a patient, whereas psychotherapy deals with how the mind and emotions of someone will impact their long term behaviour patterns. Some types of counselling are known as relational or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which utilises both the mind and emotions of the client to assist them change undesirable behaviour patterns. CBT is used by a wide range of people including children, adults, couples and social groups.


In contrast to counselling, psychotherapy usually involves the participation of a therapist who facilitates a one-on-one therapeutic encounter. Typical psychotherapy sessions last between one and two hours, and are generally conducted with the assistance of a registered counsellor. Therapists usually incorporate a variety of techniques in their overall approach, depending on the specific needs of their clients. A common method of psychotherapy is group therapy, whereby each member of the group meets with the therapist for a pre-arranged pre-treatment session. A common drawback of psychotherapy is that it is very expensive due to the need to hire professional therapists and pay for the cost of the therapy itself. Check out https://carolinemcdougall.info to get started.


A popular form of psychotherapy practised today is talk therapy. Talk therapy was initially developed to treat severe mental health conditions such as schizophrenia and anxiety disorders, however, in recent years it has been adapted for use with a variety of other emotional problems including depression. With talk therapy, the client first speaks about their feelings and emotions, problems they are struggling with and possible solutions, with the psychotherapist listening with empathy and guidance through this process. The therapist can then help the client explore and work through their feelings and emotions to find deeper solutions to their present issues.


While some people may find this form of counselling a helpful tool to overcoming difficult issues, some will find that it is frustrating and does not address the root cause of their emotional problems. The key aim of most short term counsellors is to provide immediate support and relief from stress and anxiety. This support and relief will often last a short period of time but should be complemented with behavioural therapy, which helps the client to modify their behaviour and reactions to situations that trigger strong negative emotions. This can only come from a consistent and effective behavioural programme.


Some of the things clients say they struggle with during this stage include feeling isolated and not understanding why they react in certain ways to situations. A good counselling and psychotherapy program will seek to address these factors and offer ways of addressing them in the future. For example, clients who find the experience of talking about their emotions uncomfortable and feel self conscious about discussing feelings outside of the immediate family might benefit from CBT or an equivalent short-term programme such as hypnotherapy.

For more info, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counseling_psychology.

 

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