Bernard Adam Stoltz, Psy.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
| Parkhurst Associates 1755 S Street, NW Washington DC (202) 234-7738 ext. 8 |
Is therapy, psychotherapy or counseling for you?
To some, there is a stigma that therapy is an endeavor only for people with severe
mental illness. However, psychologists can be helpful to all kinds of people who
have come across all kinds of roadblocks in life. Therapy often helps us to
understand these roadblocks, capitalize on our strengths, and improve our
shortcomings. Therapy helps to make all of life’s endeavors more meaningful, so
that we can relate to other people, our work, and our free time with confidence and
satisfaction. When we are unable to do this, life can become dull at best, and
emotionally painful at worst.
Therapy can help with a variety of issues that many people contend with:
Self-esteem
Social effectiveness
Building and maintaining relationships
Loss of a loved one
Divorce
Major life transitions
GLBT concerns
Career development
Career transitions
Scholastic difficulties
Coping with legal difficulties
Life often presents us with great challenges and sometimes therapy can be the
critical step that keeps us from “going crazy.”
Therapy and Mental Illness
Therapy can be crucial in treating mental illness and symptoms of mental illness.
I have worked in the mental health field in the Washington DC metropolitan area
for 10 years. During this time, I have helped people suffering from the following
symptoms and disorders:
Depression
Anxiety
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Phobias
Addictions
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, ADD)
Bipolar Disorder
Psychotic and thought disorders
Personality Disorders
Eating Disorders
To some, there is a stigma that therapy is an endeavor only for people with severe
mental illness. However, psychologists can be helpful to all kinds of people who
have come across all kinds of roadblocks in life. Therapy often helps us to
understand these roadblocks, capitalize on our strengths, and improve our
shortcomings. Therapy helps to make all of life’s endeavors more meaningful, so
that we can relate to other people, our work, and our free time with confidence and
satisfaction. When we are unable to do this, life can become dull at best, and
emotionally painful at worst.
Therapy can help with a variety of issues that many people contend with:
Self-esteem
Social effectiveness
Building and maintaining relationships
Loss of a loved one
Divorce
Major life transitions
GLBT concerns
Career development
Career transitions
Scholastic difficulties
Coping with legal difficulties
Life often presents us with great challenges and sometimes therapy can be the
critical step that keeps us from “going crazy.”
Therapy and Mental Illness
Therapy can be crucial in treating mental illness and symptoms of mental illness.
I have worked in the mental health field in the Washington DC metropolitan area
for 10 years. During this time, I have helped people suffering from the following
symptoms and disorders:
Depression
Anxiety
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Phobias
Addictions
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, ADD)
Bipolar Disorder
Psychotic and thought disorders
Personality Disorders
Eating Disorders
| What is the difference between therapy, psychotherapy and counseling? Therapy is a term that is often used interchangeably with psychotherapy and counseling. Therapy does not refer to a process different from psychotherapy or counseling, but rather it is a general term that can be used for both. Although this is sometimes confusing, it is also reflective of the many shared elements of psychotherapy and counseling. Both psychotherapy and counseling assist clients in achieving major life goals and gathering understanding of our selves. Both help clients address barriers to achieving those goals. Both involve meeting on a regular basis, usually weekly, with a professional with a graduate degree in psychology or social work. Counseling tends to be goal focused. For example, career counseling assists clients with the goal of making a career transition, or obtaining and maintaining a job. Couples counseling assists a couple in generating positive communication. In life we often talk about things we would like to accomplish, yet we struggle with actually making these things happen. Counseling involves a systematic assessment of what keeps us from reaching our goals so that we can successfully address these barriers. Individual insight is gained in the service of achieving goals set out for counseling. Psychotherapy tends to be focused on the individual. Although we all have goals in life, sometimes it takes a deeper understanding of our selves in order to achieve what we want. Sometimes we need to seek a larger meaning in life in order for the other pieces to fall into place. In psychotherapy we seek to understand our desires and struggles as they relate to our essential sense of self. Psychotherapy helps us to build meaningful ways of relating to others and the world at large. That being said, there are times when counseling may entail the exploration and development of the self. There are also times when psychotherapy may become goal focused. Ultimately the content of each session is determined by the needs of each individual at that specific moment. |
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