This list of counseling and counselling is in no way complete, and there are hundreds of good reasons to try therapy. The main reason is that nobody needs to bear any burden alone. You can find hope and overcome any difficulty - take the first step with professional counselors today.
FAQs About Counseling
What is the difference between counseling and therapy?
While both can help you accomplish mental health goals you may have in mind, counseling tends to have a shorter timeframe. Therapy generally helps a person take a closer look at their thinking patterns and how that ultimately plays a role in how they interact with the world. Counseling can take on other shapes as well beyond the traditional roles of therapy, like school counseling or professional help with career goals. Counseling can also help smooth out challenges between family members and create more cohesion within a family unit.
What is the goal of counseling?
There is no specific goal for counseling. But it often gives clients set goals for themselves, allows them to find solutions to challenges they may be facing, helps improve communication, boosts self-esteem, and empowers diverse individuals to understand their relationships and life experiences better.
Other FAQs:
What do you mean of counseling?
Counseling can have many different meanings, and there are many types of counseling. In education settings, such as colleges, you may find a career counselor. Someone may go to a career counselor to ensure that their education is paving the right path for the career they want, to explore their career options based on their skills and strengths, or to discuss something else that relates to career topics. Mental health counseling, on the other hand, may relate to any number of concerns that impact mental health, whether that's trauma related to natural disasters, gun violence, or another event, relationships, substance abuse, a substance use disorder*, or another mental health condition. People may attend divorce counseling to move through a divorce as harmoniously as possible, or a couple may seek couple's counseling to prepare for marriage, to find solutions for challenges within the relationship, or for another reason. If you have something specific that you want to work on during counseling sessions, you may look for a professional who works with that specific concern. For example, you may search for a counselor or therapist who works with anxiety disorders if the primary topic you want to cover in sessions is an anxiety disorder.
*If you or someone you know lives with or might be living with a substance use disorder, help is available. Please contact SAMHSA's national helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
What is the purpose of counseling?
There are many different purposes or reasons why a person might go to counseling or see a counselor. For example, counselors may help clients with concerns including but not limited to:
That said, this is by no means an extensive list of what licensed professional counselors can do. The American Counseling Association lists a number of different possible counseling specialties on its website. The counseling specialties listed on the American Counseling Association website include but aren't limited to child and adolescent counseling, substance abuse or addictions counseling, LGBTQIA+ counseling, and military counseling. You can learn more about the different types of counseling on the American Counseling Association website.
To provide specialized care to clients, licensed professional counselors may work primarily with people of a specific population or who face a specific concern they want to work on in some cases and may have additional training related to the population or concern they work with. Therapy is personal, and it's important to work with a counselor who you feel safe with. This is one reason as to why some clients may seek a counselor who works with a specific population.
Do you need a degree to be a counselor?
Licensed professional counselors will have a master's degree or higher in the United States. Other requirements, too, must be met. For example, one must obtain licensure and endure a specific number of hours of supervised practice. There are ethical standards provided by the American Counseling Association (ACA) that counselors will generally abide by in their work with their clients. The requirements to become a licensed professional counselor who offers counseling to clients may vary based not just on your country, but also, on your state if you live in the United States. Those who are interested in becoming counselors may find it beneficial to review the requirements in the location where they want to work with clients.
Who needs counseling?
Anyone can benefit from counseling, and counseling can be used for a broad range of concerns that affect a person's life. Someone may attend counseling due to challenges in their career, for help moving through a divorce or something else that affects their personal life, like grief, due to a desire to learn new coping skills, for the management of a mental health condition, to receive emotional support and skills to cope with a physical health condition, or for another reason. You can attend counseling with a romantic partner, on your own, or in groups. Group counseling, where individuals meet in groups, often to work on a specific concern or goal, is helpful for many people, can occur in different settings, and may be engaged with on its own or alongside individual therapy. People may also attend family counseling with their families if they want to work on something with their family unit involved. For example, families may attend family counseling to support one specific family member through a mental health condition or another life challenge. Alternatively, a family may attend family counseling together to work on challenges such as family conflict and trouble with communication within the family unit.
Going to counseling is a personal experience, and not everyone will go into counseling seeking the same things. Keeping this in mind can ensure that you will get the most out of online therapy or psychology, regardless of what your specific counseling goals are. If you’re still wondering if therapy or psychology is right for you, and how much counseling costs, please contact us at contact@betterhelp.com. BetterHelp specializes in online therapy to help address all types of mental health psychology concerns. If you’re interested in individual therapy, reach out today to get started.
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