counseling
Meaning of counseling: The word stretches from grief support to a genetics appointment, so the qualifier in front of it carries most of the meaning.
Definition of counseling
Counseling is structured conversation with a trained professional, held over a series of sessions, to help a person, couple, family or group work through emotional difficulty, stress or a decision. The word also covers sessions whose purpose is information rather than emotional support, such as explaining an inherited risk or planning a change in diet.
What kinds of counseling are there?
| Kind | What the sessions address |
|---|---|
| Grief | Bereavement and the reactions that follow a death |
| Genetic | Inherited risk, what a test can and cannot show, and what a result would mean |
| Nutritional or dietary | Eating patterns, often alongside diabetes, kidney disease or cancer treatment |
| Substance use | Patterns of drinking or drug use and the situations that maintain them |
| Marriage and family | Conflict, communication and roles within a relationship or household |
| Supportive | Living with a serious diagnosis, treatment decisions and their emotional weight |
The first and last of these are emotional work. Genetic counseling and nutritional counseling sit differently: their core is accurate information delivered in a way a person can act on, though both involve emotion as well, and grief counseling shows how far the word stretches at the other end.
How is it different from psychotherapy and psychiatry?
The boundaries are blurred and the words are often used interchangeably, but there are tendencies. Counseling usually runs for a limited number of sessions and focuses on a specific concern or life transition. Psychotherapy tends to run longer and works on recurring patterns of thought, feeling and relationship, sometimes reaching back into how they formed. Psychiatry is a branch of medicine: a psychiatrist holds a medical degree, diagnoses mental illness and can prescribe medicines, which counselors and most psychologists cannot. In practice the three are combined rather than chosen between, and a person may see a counselor while also taking a medicine prescribed elsewhere.
What happens in a session?
Sessions are scheduled, time-limited and confidential within legal limits, and they begin by agreeing what the work is for. The counselor listens, reflects, asks questions that open up what has been assumed, and helps set out options rather than issuing instructions. Some approaches are highly structured, with tasks between sessions and written records of thoughts or behavior; others are led entirely by what the person brings. Progress is reviewed against the goals agreed at the outset, and an ending is planned rather than simply arrived at. Sessions may be individual, joint or in a group, and are held in person or remotely.
Used in a sentence
The patient was referred for counseling to help cope with the emotional impact of the diagnosis.
Good to know
Counseling and psychotherapy overlap considerably and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, though counseling is often shorter in duration and more focused on a specific concern or life transition.