Counselling Psychology

Wonder what is the difference between clinical psychology and counseling psychology?

The answer to that question is not as simple though. Psychology can be applied in several different ways.  Some people who study psychology end up practicing as counselors, while some practice as psychotherapists, and some practice as psychologists. To make the matter even more complicated, some psychologists use techniques from psychotherapy and some use techniques from counseling.

Counseling psychology is a psychological specialty that encompasses research and applied work in several broad domains like:

• Counseling process and outcome
• supervision and training
• career development
• counseling, prevention and health

Some other counseling themes where psychologists include a focus on assets and strengths, person-environment interactions, educational and career development and a focus on intact personalities.

In the US, the premier scholarly journals of the profession are the “Journal of Counseling Psychology” and “The Counseling Psychologist“.

In Europe, the scholarly journals of the profession include the European Journal of Counseling Psychology.

The Differences in particular are notable in the field of counseling from the field of counseling psychology:

In the U.S., counseling psychology programs are accredited by the American Psychological Association, while counseling programs are accredited through the Counsel for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs also called  (CACREP).

In all 50 states, counselors can be licensed at the masters degree level, when meeting the state and national criteria.

To become licensed as a counseling psychologist, you must meet the criteria for licensee as a psychologist.
Both doctoral level counseling psychologists and doctoral level counselors can perform both applied work, as well as research and teaching.