Peer To Peer Counseling ( Peer counselor) Vs Mental Health Therapist:
A mental health peer is your accountability partner, the one who has been through all the mental health issues and has successfully managed to overcome his mental health condition. A mental health peer is
not the one with a license of providing mental health treatment but, it’s a shoulder to cry on, the one
who understands you not with sympathy but with empathy. He shares his experiences with you honestly,
he is vocal on the problems and issues he faced and how he got them treated. He is not your best friend
but an objective confidante, the one who listens to you without rejection and dismissal. Your regular
friends might be very supportive and empathetic as well, but they can introduce you to some patterns
that will not help you heal. The major help in this condition is peer to peer counseling, there are alot of
online support groups working in this regard.
But this never can replace the fact that a licensed mental health therapist can be ignored in this regard.
He can make you focus on your irregular responses and the patterns you are following, and will work for
your transformation into a better individual.
Counseling:
Counseling is usually a focus on a specific single issue for a limited amount of time. Counseling is of
short term ( handful of sessions), this provides you with identification and implementation of possible
solutions to the current specific problem. Counseling sessions are based on present issues and problems
you are stuck in rather than delving into past. A practical thinking of counseling can be understood in a
way that it is like getting an impartial 3rd party to help you solve a difficult problem.
Therapy:
Therapy where as can be a more long-term and focuses on you as an individual, the way you look at
yourself and the world, what are your thoughts and feelings about certain things, along with that the
patterns with which you do something and why youdo it. For instance, when you are suffering from any
mental health condition likely to be depression, you along with your therapist will explore how this
problem is impacting your daily life and what are the better ways and strategies to develop against it to
overcome it.
Conclusion:
Therapy itself can include counseling on different issues that arise during your sessions with your
therapist. On the other hand, if a counselor sees underlying problems that are a cause of consern, they
might recommend you atherapy.