Mental Health Counseling – The Whole Picture
Mental health counseling covers a wide field that works together for personal development as well as bringing relief to psychological disorders. Which is why it is referred to more often as the medical health profession. Within its ambit lies not just clinical counseling but also consultation, psychotherapy, forensic testimony as well as all the work that goes into formulating and evaluating programs to treat any of these psychological disorders.
The beginnings of mental health counseling date back to the late 19th century. As the field expanded, various branches and schools developed among which psychology counseling and clinical counseling became useful tools for assessing and treating mental illnesses. Though these two fields might sound similar, there is actually a lot of difference between them.
Psychotherapists and counselors use psychology counseling in the treatment of mild psychopathological disorders. Clinical counseling on the other hand treats advanced forms of mental disorders such as schizophrenia and psychosomatic conditions. An instance of a disorder treated with psychological counseling is stress related disorders. These are just minor problems requiring minor medical attention.
Counseling techniques are used to treat minor psychological conditions. This is quite effective as the patients are usually still in control of themselves but are facing some problems. For instance, persons distressed due to some personal conditions could benefit from psychological counseling.
The patient’s personal problems that affect his wellbeing are addressed in counseling psychology. The patient learns to resolve such problems by coming to courses of action from a range of choices by himself, rather than be directed or suggested to by an authority figure. The patient’s rational mind is put to use rather than allow the unconscious to take over charge.
Some other differences are that counseling psychology sticks to a person-centered approach and has a different opinion on the developmental problems associated with mental disorders.
Clinical psychology on the other hand, deals with far more serious problems such as sex related problems such as exhibitionism, manic depression - both unipolar and bipolar, phobias, sadism, fetishes, traumas and drug dependency or abuse.
Due to its intensity of investigation, clinical counseling uses psychological assessment tools to confirm diagnosis of mental disorders. Such intense investigation leads to insights for the mental health professional to design, administer and monitor appropriate courses of treatment, tailor made to suit individual patients. Through interviews, physical examinations and observations, besides tools like personality and neuropsychological tests, questionnaires and intelligence quotient tests, the proper diagnosis and resulting course of action is determined. So, a thorough examination is undertaken to provide relief to the patient.
Both counseling psychology and clinical counseling, although different from each other, have proven to be effective in the treatment of mental illnesses. Both emphasize on a dialogue with the patient, to either resolve the problem or to gain insights into the causes of the problem. In effect both are effective in the treatment of mental illnesses.
