What is the Difference between Counseling, Coaching and Therapy?

What is the Difference between Counseling, Coaching
and Therapy?

Many of you have taken us up on our Counseling services but
I wanted to address some common questions we get when consulting with clients.

Mental Health Therapist: The terms "Counselor" and "Therapist" are often used interchangeably, and this creates a lot of confusion. In general, the term “therapist” in the mental health field is someone with is licensed by their state to perform mental health therapy and diagnosis/treatment of mental health conditions. Other individuals in the United States that can be licensed to diagnosis and treat mental health conditions are Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW, LICSW,ACSW), Licensed Clinical Counselors (LCC or LPC), Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT), Psychologists, Psychiatrists and in some states Mental Health Nurse Practitioners with certain certifications are also eligible. Another term you may see is Clinical Mental Health Counselor.

Therapy with these practitioners is highly beneficial and great for those needing long term services or on-going treatment for mental health conditions. If you have the money to do so Bella Luna recommends EVERYONE, check in with a therapist when they need mental health support.

Counselor: As noted above this term is often used interchangeably with
the term "Therapist", but the difference is that while Counselors may go through
special training in diagnosis and treatment to be aware of mental health conditions, they focus their practice outside the scope of diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions. They are not required to be licensed to perform services as long as they are staying within their scope of practice and not performing diagnosis and treatment of any mental or physical health conditions. Most Counselors offer a form of brief-solution focused
counseling designed to guide clients toward changing behaviors, support through life transitions and identifying
limiting beliefs that are holding them back from living their desired life. The
focus of Counseling tends to be more problem-solving and solution focused. Counselors are a great choice when you are looking for support after life changes and support with any social-emotional development utilizing therapeutic theories as the basis of their work.

About Bella’s Work as A Counselor: Bella has her Master of Science degree in Counseling, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and has specialized graduate work in Behavior Analysis, Multicultural Counseling, Psychopharmacology, and Career Development Theory. In addition to her professional practice, she is also a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT), Trained in Clinical Hypnotherapy at the Milton Erickson Foundation and is a Certified Career Counselor. She briefly began working on her clinical hours to become a Licensed Clinical Counselor out of graduate school, but didn’t feel aligned with the work that was available to individuals on that career path and voluntarily put her license preparation on hold to pursue working in a more holistic counseling path that did not require clinical licensure.

Bella's Credentials:
Masters of Science, Counseling (California State University, Sacramento)
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology (Humboldt State University)
Certified Career Counselor (National Career Development Association)
Clinical Hypnotherapy Trained (Milton Erickson Foundation, American Psychological Association Approved)
Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 200, Yoga Alliance)
Crystal Practitioner (Hibiscus Moon Method)