Counseling and Psychotherapy: Strange Bedfellows or Cohabitants

Administrators in the employment service (and in other agency settings) frequently admonish counselors that they are to “counsel,” not to “do therapy.” Yet, the terms counseling and psychotherapy (or therapy), are both widely used, often more or less interchangeably. Although there appears to be general agreement that the two are not exactly synonymous, there does not seem to be that same general agreement concerning the differences between them. This article endeavors to present the three basic positions established in the literature and to suggest an alternative position for consideration by practitioners of the art (or science).