What's the Difference between a Clinical and a Counselling Psychologist?

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If you are considering a career in psychology, it is important to know the difference between the different forms of psychology. Two of the most popular types include clinical and counselling psychology. In this post, you will discover the key differences between each type, so that you can make up your mind regarding the best career path for you.

An introduction to psychology

Before we can delve into the different types of psychology, it is first important to explain what psychology is and who psychologists are. Psychology is the scientific study of people, behaviour and the mind. It explores how people react with each other and the environment, as well as how they act and think. Psychologists, therefore, help people by influencing all aspects of public life, including social justice, education, and, of course, health.

The different types of psychologists

If you feel that psychology could be the right career path for you, it’s important to know about the different types of psychologists. As you will already know, there are counselling and clinical psychologists, which we are going to focus on next. Aside from this, other types of psychology include teaching and research, occupational, health, forensic and educational.

Counselling and clinical psychology

Now that you have a basic understanding regarding the different forms of psychology, it is important to look at the difference between clinical and counselling psychology. Both types of psychologists aim to enhance and promote psychological well-being while reducing psychological distress. There is a significant overlap between both forms of this scientific study. However, the main differences lie regarding training and their perspective. Clinical psychology focuses on individuals that have serious mental health issues, for example, psychosis. Counselling psychology focuses on less pathological, healthier populations. The distinction is increasing small, as they work in similar settings, but you will need to achieve a greater level of training to break into the clinical field.

Training

As mentioned, the main difference between the two fields of psychology regards the training side of things. Both will require you to get an accredited degree or conversion course in psychology. Once you have done this, you will then need to train in your chosen specialism. The good news is that you can find Masters in Counseling Psychology and Masters in Clinical Counseling online. This means you can be more flexible with your education and work in the process. Of course, you may prefer to do your Masters Degree at a university, the choice is yours, but both options are fully available to you.

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of how clinical and counselling psychology differ from one and other. As you can see, they are very similar in many ways. Nonetheless, it is important to know about the differences so that you can make up your mind regarding the route you want to go down.