Let’s clear up the difference among some terms that you could encounter if you feel you need some help from a professional.
A counselor is a social worker who provides assistance to low-threshold psychological and emotional problems.
A coach is a social worker who accompanies a client toward his goal.
These social workers give clients advice and helps them through talk therapy to get their lives back on track. There are various courses leading to a counselor or a coach.
Nevertheless have a counselor or a coach received no psychological or scientific training, therefore it is important to check their education and experience.
A psychologist has completed extensive graduate education: 5-year university education and internship. This knowledge and experience allow a psychologist to deal with a wider range of situations than social workers, to be prepared to assess the client’s difficulty, to recognise contingent psychological and physical disorders. It is not by chance that sometimes a counselor needs a psychologist to complese his work with a client.
Moreover, a psychologist works according to high ethical and professional standard of conduct and a stringent professional code.
Therefore:
A psychologist can work as a counselor or a coach.
A counselor or a coach cannot be a psychologist.
The assessment of your situation is particularly important, being the first step.
For these reasons my recomendation is to begin with somebody whose expertise you can have greater confidence in, a professional who can help you in the most complete way.
Nonetheless, the three professionals can synergistically work together for the same patient, each of them focusing on a particular part of the case, according to their expertise.
[/vc_column][vc_column fade_animation_offset=”45px” width=”1/3″]