What is the difference between Psychotherapy, Counseling, and Life Coaching?
Psychotherapy and counseling are regulated practices in the State of California and involve treating problems and concerns with psychological interventions. A psychotherapist or counselor will ask questions to learn your personal history and the timeline of your problem or concern. In other words, a psychotherapist or counselor is very concerned with the why and how your problem or concern developed. Once this is established, he or she will then create a treatment plan based on research-supported psychological interventions aimed at improving your quality of life through the resolution of past issues and their lingering effects.
People generally see a life coach for advice and guidance that may or may not be based on psychological concepts and theories. A life coach assumes that you are well-adjusted and wanting to approach your problems and concerns with definitive action and solutions. Unlike psychotherapists or counselors, life coaches are not concerned about why or how a problem or concern developed and are only interested in solving the problem or concern with you immediately with practical advice. In recent years, life coaching has become popularized through various reality TV shows and talk shows.
What is a psychological assistant?
In California, a Psychological Assistant is someone who is registered with the California Board of Psychology as a Master's level psychology student with candidacy for a doctoral degree in psychology. The psychological assistant acts as an employee of a licensed clinical psychologist, and thus is not in private practice even though the assistant sees clients on an individual, couples, or family basis. The clinical psychologist who employs a psychological assistant acts as a supervisor to ensure that the client's needs are met at the highest possible standard of care.
Why should I consider seeing a psychological assistant?
Psychological assistants are commonly graduate students or recent graduates who are gathering hours for licensure. Given their recent education in treatment strategies, assistants can be well-versed in cutting edge contemporary approaches to therapy. Assistants are also able to offer psychological services at hourly rates much lower than the average psychologist while offering a comparable high quality of care that a licensed psychologist may offer.
