whats the difference counseling and psychotherapy?

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Counselling or Psychotherapy?
Though most people will be aware of the term 'counselling', you may have come across the term 'psychotherapy' and differentiating between these terms is useful when understanding which therapy will be best suited to you. Both psychotherapy and counselling involve talking to someone who is trained to listen and there is no definitive distinction between counselling and psychotherapy. However, in general, counselling is a talking therapy which allows individuals to deal with specific life issues, whereas psychotherapy is used to deal with 'deeper' issues, most commonly with those whose past experiences are still causing them distress. It may be helpful to think of counselling and psychotherapy as being at either ends of a scale. At one end would be brief counselling to deal with a specific problem, at the other end would be intense psychotherapy to deal with deep rooted problems.

However the main factor that usually determines how successful the therapy is does not lie with the technique or approach used, but with the actual counsellor/psychotherapist. How you connect with the counsellor/psychotherapist you choose is likely to determine how successful the treatment is. It is also helpful to have a little knowledge on the different types of counselling that may be used when deciding upon a counsellor/psychotherapist. There are many types of counselling, some involve looking at past relationships and experiences to make sense of them, and others involve looking at the 'here and now'.