Counselling & Psychotherapy

While used interchangeably, counselling and psychotherapy are not the same thing but many professionals do both. Psychotherapy tends to work with a broader scope, looking beyond current challenges and working with deeper patterns, traumatic events, developmental gaps, diagnosable mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, or bipolar and more. We often work collaboratively with other involved medical professionals and have specialized training to increase competency for working with specific areas.

Counselling is a often a more generic and familiar term. Counselling is usually associated with talk therapy where a client will talk through some current challenges or issues and look to the counsellor like an advisor. Counselling can be one on one, with couples or with families and can be helpful in bringing in awareness, insight, and connection during challenging periods of life or specific instances. Both work toward client goals and overlap in many areas.

I am a psychotherapist. My graduate school training provides me with the skills to be a counsellor, but I primarily rely on my specialized training that allows me to effectively work with trauma, mental illness, family patterns, attachment ruptures, and core issues of self. I work with the whole person – whether it’s one issue or a lifetime of them, I work and relate in the same way and rely on the foundation of my training and the science that backs it to help people move into their full resiliency and capacity for happiness and health.

When looking for any professional to work with, it is important to look at their education, philosophy, and areas of expertise. As important as those elements are, it’s essential that you feel a connection with them and a level of comfort that allows you to work towards your goals. It is not a one size fits all profession but there is the right person out there for you.